Dangan Ronpa: Spirit of Despair
by Weapon X Foxfurry
Summary: 20 lucky young people are invited to take part in a seminar being held by Hope's Peak in beautiful Las Vegas. However, they soon find that even the likes of Sin City can be tainted by SHSL Despair... and thus... the Hope's Peak Mutual Killing Seminar begins...
1. Prologue pt 1: Dab on Despair

" _Just hangin' out, hangin' out, hangin' out, Hangin' out with Sayori! Havin' myself a… Oh… Too soon?" -Weapon X Foxfurry 2018*_

 **Dangan Ronpa: Spirit of Despair**

 **My half of a collab fic with Beninja2618.**

 **Just so you're aware, this fanfic is rated M for 'murder'! :3**

 **Not really, though, but it has been given a mature rating for blood, gore, murder, swearing, use of ballistic firearms, references to the 2016 Presidential election, Logan Paul references, Dead Sayori jokes, memes, executions, and lots and lots of despair!**

 **Please note that the stunts, trials, investigations, murders, and executions in this fic are perpetrated by professionals, imaginary characters, or just plain kooks.**

 **DO NOT attempt to recreate anything depicted in this fic, as it can cause you to get hurt, expelled, arrested, vilified on social media, physically attacked by a rabid, crazed far-right or far-left Twitter stalker, or killed.**

 **To put it plainly; don't try any of this at home.**

 **Also note that this collab fic will tie in with Beninja's fic, Despair of Tomorrow.**

 **Basically, his fic is like Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, and mine is Edgeworth Investigations.**

 **Also, you don't know how long it took me to put this out, so now I have to be consistent and keep updating.**

 **I don't own any of the properties in this fic, btw.**

 **They all belong to their respective owners.**

 **Also, the character Kai Brugger is the property of Beninja2618, since this is a collab fic and we have to tie it together somehow.**

 **Only thing I own are my OCs in this and the word processor I used to type this.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the fic.**

 _*We haven't even gotten into the prologue and I already made a Sayori Suicide joke. This's gonna be a good fic._

 _Prologue:_

" _Dab on Despair"_

 _Team Moon House_

 _Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, USA_

 _Two weeks before the events of the Los Angeles Hope's Peak Mutual Game of Killing_

I finally finish recording the first few shots of my vlog for today, having recorded quite a bit of content right before I had to get ready to go to a modeling gig I had today over at Venice Beach.

I actually had several photo shoots I had to do today within a good vicinity of one another, the first one being in Venice Beach, the second in Santa Monica, the third over in Griffith Park, the fourth over in a shopping center in Beverly Hills, and in between the third and fourth photo shoots I had a fan meetup planned to occur at a shopping mall in Beverly Hills.

For those of you that are wondering who I am, my name is Manako Kumara. I am a pop idol, fashion supermodel, and a social media icon, having more subscribers on my YouTube Channel then both of the Paul Brothers combined, as well as being highly outspoken on Twitter and Facebook.

At first glance, I'd look pretty indistinguishable from most regular girls in America; Japanese-American heritage, long bright scarlet red hair done in a side ponytail with a crescent moon-shaped barrette in it, a fair complexion, blue eyes, thin body frame, medium bust size (Despite my agent suggesting it, I never once used female enhancements on myself to give myself a bigger bust), naturally curvy body frame, long, elegant legs, and always wearing hip, expensive clothing.

Despite my natural beauty, I only wear makeup at concerts or photo shoots, however, I have been getting parts in a lot of TV shows and movies lately due to my fame blowing up in recent years.

It's probably because of my recent friendship with the esteemed actor Kai Brugger, whom I met at the midnight premiere of a movie he was in recently. We hung out a bit at the afterparty, and ever since we've been good friends.

He's even been in a few of my vlog videos, especially the one a month back when I visited my family in Tokyo, Japan. While there, we stayed at my aunt's house, hung out with my cousin, and even visited some of the local sights, such as Disneyland Tokyo, a Buddhist temple over on the city's north side that my cousin prays at, and a shopping district over by Shibuya Station. We had wanted to visit the Suicide Forest, but we didn't have time, and even then, I didn't think it would be a good idea to film there.

Anyways, today I was sporting a pale pink designer halter top with a white silk sash worn around my waist, a pair of sky blue denim designer capris, black tights, and a pair of designer high heels. I figure it was a good outfit until I had to wear whatever I was wearing for the first photo shoot of the day.

I went downstairs to the living room of my designer mansion in the Hollywood hills, my high heels clacking against the glass steps as I walked, my phone in my left hand as I got ready to tweet out that I was going to a photo shoot, when I saw Kai sitting on the couch in front of the TV, looking over something on his phone it seemed.

"Oh, hey." I greeted as he glanced at me, "I know you told me you were coming over, but I didn't know you'd be here so early."

"Well, we do live down the street from one another." Kai pointed out, "And I knew you had like four photo shoots to get to today, so I wanted to at least have a little bit of time to hang out with you until then."

"I don't really have to get going for another hour and thirty minutes, so we could hang out for a little bit." I said, walking over and sitting beside him, "So, what's the latest from Hollywood?"

"Not much…" Kai said, "We're doing another movie, and we're gonna be shooting it all this week and all next week. Then I have to go over to Sega's office in San Diego two days from now to lend my voice to their latest Sonic game."

"A Sonic game, eh?" I mused, "What matter of roadkill are you playing in the game?"

"Jake Prowess the Fox." Kai said, "According to the script, he's Tails' brother from another timeline."

"Oh, good, another dimensional traveler…" I said sarcastically, "Just what the franchise needed right now…"

"He's a ninja, too." Kai added.

"Oh, that's even worse." I said, chuckling, "How many ninjas does that bring the series up to? And I'm counting the comics for that question."

"Who knows?" Kai shrugged, "The game's not due out for another few months. They haven't even released a proper trailer for the game yet."

"Well, from what I've seen in the reveal trailer, it looks okay at best." I said, "I mean, it's no Sonic Adventure 1, but still looks good."

I then went over to a nearby desk in the room and retrieved a letter I got earlier today in the mail that I had opened earlier.

"Speaking of important news…" I said, sitting down next to Kai again and showing him the bulging envelope, "I got this…"

The envelope was labeled 'To Miss Kumara Manako'

The return address was labeled 'Hope's Peak, Japan Branch'

"Hope's Peak?" Kai asked, curious.

I pulled out a letter, as well as a pamphlet for something called 'Hope's Peak Bright Future Seminar', as well as a plane ticket to Las Vegas, a brochure for a Resort Hotel known as the 'Sunshine Paradise Casino Resort Hotel'

Kai read over the letter carefully, reading every detail.

"… 'Super High School Level Idol?'" He repeated, reading a certain part of the letter, "… No offense Manako, but this seems kinda like a scam, like those emails you get from Nigerian Princes asking for one thousand dollars or something."

"I thought so too…" I said, picking up my tablet that had been charging on the coffee table and opening up the Official Hope's Peak website on it, "So I did some research, and apparently it's legit. Apparently, they hold these seminars every two years to scout out more talent. This one just so happens to be at the new Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Sunshine Paradise. It's got a casino, off-track betting, an arcade, many luxury hotel rooms, an underground shopping mall, an amusement park, an aquarium that has a mermaid show performed every two hours in a day, a spa, at least four restaurants, several swimming pools, two convention halls, and a showroom where magic shows and other stage performances are held. In fact, opening day they had Shakira perform at that particular showroom for a small concert."

"So, this seminar…" Kai said, "… It says it's to 'gauge your talents for use in a brighter tomorrow'… This… Don't you think this seems too good to be true?"

"Kai, I may be a privileged American girl, but I'm not a moron." I defended, "I had my agent Rodney look into it as well, and apparently the folks at Hope's Peak confirmed that it was indeed legit."

"I see…" Kai said, "… When're you leaving?"

"Tomorrow." I said.

Kai did a double take at that.

"… Tomorrow?" he repeated.

"That's why I'm getting all these photo shoots and meetups out of the way." I said, "So that I can just go to this seminar with not a care in the world."

Kai seemed quiet all of a sudden.

"… Look, Kai…" I said, trying to salvage the situation, "I know this is big news to digest, but… This is a big thing for me… I… I've basically reached the peak of my career as an Idol… I… Feel very proud of myself… Aren't you proud of me?"

"… Y-yeah…." Kai said, "It's just… We've been friends for almost two years now… And to hear that you're gonna be with all these talented people… I dunno, I guess I'm just afraid things will change between us…"

"Nothing will change between us, Kai…" I reassured, "I promise."

"You do?" Kai asked.

I held my pinky finger out to him.

"Pinky promise." I said.

He was silent a moment more, then locked his pinky finger around mine and smiled.

"I'll hold you to your word." He said.

"Oh, come on, Kai-Chan…" I said, grinning and laughing, "What's the worst that can happen?"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The next day, after I had finished packing, I decided to do a little bit of research on some of the other participants in the seminar.

Turns out, a lot of different kinds of people from all over the world had been invited to the seminar.

For instance, this notorious bank robber from London, England was scouted out and invited as the 'SHSL Bank Robber'.

Apparently, he'd pulled off many successful bank heists in the past, often using military-grade assault weapons and armor to do so, and also apparently wearing a variety of different costume masks to hide his identity during the heists.

The one that snagged him an Ultimate title was a job he did over in London's east end where he and his crew robbed the biggest bank in London and stole almost 50,000,000 Pounds in bank notes and gold.

I guess even career criminals have a shot at getting the title of Super High School Level…

Another of the invitees was a girl from Australia who is a very professional pilot and had gotten her start piloting a crop-dusting plane at her father's farm in the Australian outback. After that, she ran a professional private plane rental company, where people paid her to fly them to various parts of the region, from Perth to Tasmania to New Zealand, to even as far as the Philippines. She even got recognition by the Australian Air Force and had been commissioned to test fly some of the latest jet fighters for them. The feat that got her a SHSL title was when she piloted the world's first VTOL Supersonic fighter jet that could be undetected by radar yet drop a lightning strike bomb strike on a target quickly and swiftly. The test was a success, and that got her a SHSL title.

All in all, these folks seem like a pretty lively crowd, so I would have to bring my A-game.

Super High School Level Idol…

That had a nice ring to it…

I could get used to being called that…

Anyways, I DM'd Kai on Twitter tell him I'd stop by before going to the airport, so I loaded my luggage into my open-top Jeep, then drove down the street to his place, basically letting myself in since we'd gotten so used to just coming over to each other's houses so often, whether it was for collab videos or script reading practice.

I caught him looking up something on his laptop, which looked like a news story of some kind.

"… Is the election really that bad this year?" I asked, half-joking.

"A protester got punched in the face by a rally attendee, you tell me." Kai shrugged.

"Eh, I'm not worried." I said dismissively, "As outlandish and crazy as he is, that guy won't win the election."

"I dunno…" Kai said, "He does have a lot of supporters…"

"The silent majority should just stay silent." I shrugged, "A buncha freaks and social outcasts is what they are. I might even attend a rally ironically just to make fun of the people there on video."

"That seems a little bit savage for you…" Kai pointed out.

"Doesn't matter…" I said, "I'm an ultimate now. I can do whatever I want…"

He sighed, then I said, "So, you wanna stop by the Starbucks in Beverly hills and get a few Frappuccino's before I have to leave? My car's parked out front."

"I guess…" Kai said, and was about to close his laptop when he saw an article on an counter-terror operation that had recent occurred in Palestine.

I would've dismissed it, but then I saw a picture of the soldier that had led the operation on the video article and recognized him.

"Hey, pause that a minute." I said.

Kai shrugged, then paused the video on the picture of the soldier.

He was a young man about 18 in age, light skin, an nearly ageless physique, brown eyes, short brown hair that was somewhat scraggy, but was combed as much as it could be, and in the picture he was wearing a desert camouflage uniform with a bulletproof vest over it, a pair of sport sunglasses that he had on his head, a combat knife of some kind held on a sheath on his left shoulder, a military bandana around his head that resembled the kind Solid Snake wears in Metal Gear Solid, and was holding an AR-15 rifle of some kind, probably some weird new model that the military only just started fielding.

"You know this guy?" Kai asked.

"Yeah…" I said, "… I went to grade school with him…"

"Well, apparently your boy Colonel Nathan Sampson led an operation in western Palestine to take out a small terrorist cell that had connections to ISIS…" Kai said.

"Dayum…" I said, "Who knew Lil' Nate had the capacity to become GI Joe?"

"I guess you must have fond memories of him, huh?" Kai mused.

I went silent a moment at that, looking down guiltily.

"… That's the thing…" I said, "See… I… Kinda bullied him a little bit in grade school…"

Kai looked genuinely surprised.

"… You… Bullied _him_?" he asked, "This Colonel Rick Flag-looking guy… You used to bully _him_?"

"Yeah, I did…" I said, "I'm not proud of it if that's what you're asking."

"I didn't say that…" Kai said, "I'm just shocked… I mean… I never could guess you were a bully at one point in your life…"

"We all have skeletons in our closet, Kai…" I said, "Mine just happened to become a US Army Special Forces Commando in an elite Counter-Terrorism unit. Not only that… But he's one of the guys that got invited to the seminar… As the SHSL Commando."

"SHSL Commando?" Kai repeated, "You might as well call him 'Super High School Level GI Joe: A Real American Hero, Fighting Man from Head to Toe'."

I chuckled.

"Since you got cast for the next GI Joe movie for the role of Breaker, you could probably learn a thing or two from him." I teased.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I could probably convince him to bring me along on a patrol in Afghanistan or something so that I could research the part…" Kai said, "But still… That's an Ultimate title that really takes the cake."

"Believe me when I say there's a lot of talent going to this Seminar…" I said, grinning, "The Super High School Level Commando is just the tip of the iceberg."

Kai nodded, silent.

"Well, I kinda gotta go…" I said, checking the time, "I got a plane to catch. You wanna see me off?"

"I guess so…" Kai shrugged.

"I'll let you borrow my jeep while I'm gone." I offered.

"I could drive it back to your place after you leave if that's what you're asking…" Kai said.

"Fair enough." I said, "C'mon. time's a wastin'."

With that, the two of us got in my Jeep and drove to the airport, parking right in the parking garage and carrying my luggage to the luggage checkin and going through security.

After we did all that, on the way to the terminal, we were approached by a few fans of mine who asked for autographs and last-minute selfies.

I obliged them, of course, but after that, we tried to keep the meetups to a minimum.

Before too long, we had approached the terminal to the plane, and before I got on, Kai took me aside a moment.

"Hey…" he said, doing an impression of a 1940's American accent, "… Here's lookin' at you, kid."

"Are you doing a Casablanca meme?" I laughed.

"Heh… Manako…" Kai said, grinning while keeping up the accent, "I have a feeling this's the beginnin' of a beautiful friendship!"

"I have to go, Kai." I laughed, then went to board the plane.

As I left, I glanced at Kai one last time before boarding the plane.

It's strange… I… Felt weird when I looked at him…

I felt like…

… Like I'd never see him again…

Regardless, I got in my first-class seat, tweeted out that I was on the plane going to the Seminar, then put in my earbuds and listened to music as the plane began to take off towards Las Vegas.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Palestine wildlands_

 _Three days prior…_

 _Operation: Shepard_

 _Nathan's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I'll admit it… I was genuinely nervous about this Op.

I found myself fidgeting with a 5.56 round I took from the magazine of my souped-up AR-15 carbine rifle.

It didn't help that my teammates were blasting Long Tall Sally by Little Richard on a tape deck that they put in the Blackhawk we were riding to the drop point.

By the way, full disclosure before I tell about this op, the name's Colonel Nathan Sampson, United States Army Special Forces task force codenamed: 'Future Force'.

The team for this op was as follows:

First up was my right-hand man and heavy weapons expert, Lt. Julian 'Jules' Redmont, a youthful, but slightly older than me African American man with a muscular body frame, black hair in a military crew cut, green eyes, and wore desert camouflage fatigues and a bulletproof vest like the rest of us, except he was armed with an Aircraft-grade M134 Minigun that was hooked up to a ammo backpack.

Second up was my breaching expert, Staff Sergeant Dylan 'Shrapnel' Magee, a young man the same age as me with light skin that was slightly tanned, an athletic build, blue eyes, short black hair that was messy, and had an American flag bandana around his neck.

The third worth mentioning was a bring along.

Her name was Mukuro Ikusaba: Super High School Level Soldier.

She was clad in a very form-fitting digital desert camouflage bodysuit worn underneath bulletproof armor, a pair of combat goggles on her head, and was armed with a G36C rifle as her primary, a MK 48 SAW light machine gun as her second primary, and a Glock 18 machine pistol as her secondary weapon.

"Yo, Nate." Jules said to me.

"What up, Jules?" I asked flatly.

"I know I keep askin… But who's the broad we're bringin' along?" Jules asked, as one of my other teammates, a slightly muscular white man with short black hair that was parted to the side but kept hidden under an outback hat armed with an M60E4 pulling out a bag of chewing tobacco and beginning to chew on that.

"Mukuro Ikusaba." Mukuro said flatly, "And I'd appreciate it if you showed some respect towards me, if you don't mind."

"What're ya gonna do if we don't, Jap?" Dylan asked casually, as the outback hat-wearing soldier offered him tobacco which he declined nonverbally.

Mukuro smirked.

"… You know…" she said, tilting her head, "I have over 200 recorded kills… How many do you have, American Pig?"

"Cool it, you two." I said, sliding the bullet back into the magazine of my rifle, then loading the magazine into the rifle, "We're supposed to be acting like professionals on this joint op."

The machine gun soldier offered me some tobacco, but I glared at him, then said, "…. Ian, do you mind? Get that shit out of my face."

Ian took the tobacco away from me, then snorted and said, "Buncha slack-jawed Faggots, all of ya! This stuff'll make ya a Sexual Tyrannosaurus… Just like me."

"I'd like to keep this op clean, if you don't mind…" I said, shrugging.

"Hey, we're coming up on the drop point, team." The pilot of the helicopter said to us.

"Copy that." I said into my commlink, then said to Jules, "Jules, kill the music. We're on."

Jules nodded, switching off the tape deck, then stood at the ready, as well began to cock and ready our weapons.

I myself checked the chambers of my Mateba .357 revolver before holstering it again before cocking my AR-15 rifle.

"Ready on my mark, team…" I said, getting ready as the helicopter descended towards the ground.

Once the copter was close to the ground, I pulled open the side door and jumped out onto the ground, as the others followed.

The op was an easy one: Take out the insurgents hiding out in the abandoned airfield, seize the stolen weapons, obtain the intel, then get out.

Quick.

Clean.

Easy.

" _Future Force, you are clear to engage."_ Said my CO on the commlink, " _Eliminate all hostiles. Seize the weapons and intel. You know the drill."_

"Yeah, yeah…" I shrugged, tightening my bandana on my head before leading the charge towards the abandoned airfield.

When we were at a reasonable distance, we stopped on a hill overlooking the airstrip, me getting out my binoculars as I looked down.

"There seems to be a lot of activity down there for a small insurgency cell…" I said, "They seem to be armed with mostly Russian weapons… Good ones, at that… Nothing but AN-94s, P90s, Skorpion EVOs, AK-12s, and…"

I trailed off when I saw Mukuro assembling a Barret M95 bolt-action anti-material sniper rifle.

"… 'Th fuck are you doing?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mukuro said flatly, screwing a suppressor onto the barrel of her .50 caliber sniper rifle, "I'm readying the welcoming committee."

She switched on the ballistics CPU mounted on the scope of her rifle, then laid down on her belly as she aimed down at the airstrip below, looking for a specific target.

"You sure seem into it…" I shrugged.

"Heh… You kidding?" Mukuro said, smirking, "I'm spooning a Barrett .50 Cal… I can kill a building…"

She then spotted her target in a fuel tank located on the back of a truck.

"Ah… there you are…" she murmured, taking aim at the fuel tank.

She then fired a single shot at the fuel tank, piercing it through and through and causing it to explode in a fiery mess, taking out three insurgents that happened to be near it.

"Well, that's one welcoming committee I'd hate to meet…" I deadpanned, then said, "Alright team, move out! We're live!"

I then led the way down the hill towards the airstrip as several insurgents rushed about trying to put out the fire.

In the confusion, I fired my rifle at a few insurgents, as Mukuro fired her rifle at a few more.

"Contact, with weapons!" I shouted, as my teammates fired at a few hostiles as well, dropping them like flies being hit with insecticide.

As we made our mad charge towards the hangar, a sniper shot rang out and hit a truck window behind us.

"Sniper!" Jules shouted, as we took cover behind a few vehicles.

I peeked around the corner using a mirror.

"I think he has a Dragunov…" I said, then got a closer look and said, "Wait, no, it's a SCAR-20… Jesus, who the fuck's arming these guys, ISIS?"

"Heh…" Mukuro smirked, "At this point, it could very well be those Alt-Righters you Americans have been having trouble with."

"No politics on this op, Mukuro-Chan." I said, taking aim at the sniper, "We're all action here."

I fired a single shot, killing the sniper.

I smirked, then said, "Sniper's out. We're good."

I then led the charge towards the hangar.

Once we were at the side door, Dylan got a breaching charge out and planted it on the door, then once I gave the okay, he detonated it, blowing the door in and tossed in a flashbang, thereby stunning most of the insrugents inside and allowing us the first strike.

I killed like six hostiles in the initial entry… could've been more…

Mukuro was no slouch, either. She killed at least twelve in the initial entry.

I turned on the laser sight on my rifle, as Mukuro did hers, then pointed my rifle at a nearby insurgent.

"Drop the weapons!" I shouted, then repeated the command in Palestinian.

The insurgent panicked, but lowered his weapon…

… Only to pull out a hand grenade and flick out the pin.

" _For Despair!"_ he shouted in Arabic.

"Shit! Grenade!" I shouted, as my team took cover from the resulting explosion.

After the blast, we came out from cover.

"… Okay, so they might be Arabic…" I said, "… might be…"

"Naw…" Mukuro said, nudging the dead insurgent with her boot, "… These guys are third-rate hacks… Just a bunch of freedom fighter wannabes with high-end weapons…"

"Yeah, well, who gave these guys these guns?" Jules wondered aloud.

"That's what we're here to find out, gentlemen." Mukuro said, smirking as she reloaded her rifle.

She then began charging ahead, firing at Insurgents effortlessly as she ran, and definitely looking like she was enjoying it, too.

"Dayum…" Jules said, "I'd hate to get on her bad side."

"Amen to that, brotha." I said, reloading my rifle.

I glanced at Ian a moment, who seemed to have a graze wound on his left arm from a stray bullet.

"Yo, Ian…" I said, "You're bleedin'."

"Bleedin'?" Ian said, looking at his wound, then snorted and said, "These guys are dug in deeper than a South Carolina Tick! I ain't got time to bleed!"

"Whatever…" I shrugged, "Just keep close to Mukuro… She seems to know what we're here for…"

As we proceeded through the compound and eliminated hostiles, we soon came upon a specific room.

A very specific room.

It had a massive computer system in the front of it, consisting of many monitors, keyboards, and CPU boxes, with a pair of massive servers connected to it to the right of it.

In the corner of the room were many military weapon crates, all marked with an emblem resembling a black and white two-toned teddy bear with one red eye.

"'Th fuck is this shit?" I said, looking the crate over, "Is this some kinda joke? Th' fuck is this emblem supposed to be?"

"It's no joke… Believe me…" Mukuro said, grinning widely, "We're not dealing with your average, run of the mill Terrorist cell… Not like the Taliban, Al Qaeda, or ISIS… No… We're dealing with the terrorists to end all terrorists… And the world, too…"

"Th' fuck are you on about, lady?" I asked.

Mukuro turned to me, grinning widely.

"Super High School Level Despair…" she said, chuckling, "… This place…. They've been giving orders to these low-class terrorists to spread despair all throughout the Middle east. Al Qaeda, ISIS, they were all just false flag operations meant to shift the blame on another while Despair worked from the shadows…"

"And how do you know that?" I asked.

"Because I was assigned to monitor them…" Mukuro said plainly, "Infiltrating them was easy for someone of my talent… But now… This operation… Is only the beginning…"

She got out a tool set, then took out a specific server in the server box and put it in a satchel bag she had on her.

"We got what we needed…" she said, "Let's move out."

"What about the insurgents?" I asked.

"Leave them…" Mukuro said coldly, "Let God sort them out."

She then began to leave the room, as I glanced at the collection of computer screens.

One of the images shown on the screens was of a huge school in Japan… And another of a school bearing a similar architecture in Los Angeles.

I had a really bad feeling about this…

 _To be continued…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Well, there ya go! That's the prologue for ya. Based on the last bit there, you could say that SHSL Despair is trying to 'Make Despair Great Again', eh?_

…

…

 _*Begins banging on cooking pot with wooden spoon*_

 _I'm goin' to hell_

 _I'm goin' to hell_

 _I'm on a highway to hell_

 _On a highway to hell!_

… _Yeah, I'm going to hell for making that joke after all that's happened…_

 _Anyways, as you can see, I wanted to start out a bit slow, but basically introduce Manako and showcase her friendship with Ben's OC Kai_

 _I basically took a look at his previous chapters in his half of the collab fic, and said, "Yeah, I could make this work'._

 _Also, comment below which references I made throughout the prologue if you can._

 _Believe me, there's gonna a fuckton more._

 _I'm just that kinda guy._

 _*bows*_

 _Sayonara bastards, I'm out! Peace_

 _*It's Filthy Fox, motherfuckas! It's Filthy Fox, bitch!*_

 _*Let's get some pussy tonight…*_

 _Pikachu these nuts, mang? XD_


	2. Prologue pt 2: Despair in Sin City

" _How the fuck do the humans that live in the house Army Men RTS takes place in not notice that their house has been completely overrun with talking, moving, sentient plastic army men? That always bothered me as a kid, and I just can't... RRRRRGGGHHH!"_ _-Weapon X Foxfurry_

 _And yes, every chapter of my fics will have a random quote sketch on the top of it from now on._

 **Okay, so, something to be aware of: From here on, this fic will be making even more connections with Benninja2618's fic, including direct mentioning and guest appearances of his killing game's cast members.**

 **I'll point them out as they appear, but just know that they are the property of himself.**

 **Prologue 2**

 **Despair in Sin City**

 _Manako's POV_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Within a few hours, I had finally touched down in Las Vegas, even though technically I could've driven since it's not too far away from LA.

Still, a free all-expense paid first-class flight to Las Vegas wasn't exactly something I felt I could turn down, especially since the plane had free Wi-Fi so that I could look up more about the Ultimates that were going to the seminar.

Once at the Airport, I was almost immediately greeted by rows of adoring fans.

I managed to get past them in a decent amount of time, managing to sign autographs and take selfies with a few of them before had to go retrieve my luggage and go through security.

Shortly after all that, I made my way towards the front entrance to the airport and was greeted by a young man in a stereotypical limo driver's outfit.

He was about the same age as me, maybe a year older, with short, bright red hair, light skin, green eyes, and had a pin on the collar of his uniform in the shape of a cartoonish bunny rabbit.

He was also holding up a paper sign that read 'Kumara', which probably meant this guy was my driver.

"Monako Kumara?" the youth asked.

"Yeah." I said, "You my driver?"

"Mhm, mhm." The guy said, sounding really enthusiastic, "The name's Chester Rosenberg, Super High School Level Limousine Driver, graduated."

"'Graduated?'" I repeated, "So, you already graduated from Hope's Peak?"

"Well, I graduated from the Japanese branch of the school…" Chester admitted, "But I heard they're opening a branch here in America."

"Is that so?" I mused, "Well, maybe if I'm lucky I'll get in… Hell, maybe Kai will get in, himself…"

"Kai? You mean Kai Brugger? You know him?" Chester asked.

"Yeah, he's my friend…" I said, then cleared my throat and did a very silly-sounding voice and added, "He's mah neighbor."

Chester giggled, then said, "Gah, you don't know how much of an honor this is, Miss Manako… I love your Vlogs so much…"

"Well, thanks." I said, "Um… So, I take I'm being taken to the hotel via a limo, then?"

"Yuppers!" Chester said, nodding, then gesturing for me to follow.

I couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved for some reason, but nonetheless, I followed Chester outside to the Taxi pickup area, then saw that indeed a very luxurious limousine was sent pick me up, a Rolls Royce Limousine at that.

I loaded my bags into the trunk of the limo, then got in the back seat.

As I sat down and buckled up in the back seat of the limo, I had decided to text Kai to tell him I'd just arrived in Vegas and was headed to the hotel.

He replied with;

 _Kai: Hey Manako! How are you liking Las Vegas?_

I quickly typed my response into my phone.

 _Manako: It's great! brightly lit signs, slot machines at every corner that I can't play since I'm too young, and I saw a video screen at the airport that played a Coca-Cola ad I was in._

He responded:

 _Kai: Speaking of things you've been in. Do you remember my random request to not watch Good Morning America for the last two months?_

Curious, I typed:

 _Manako: Yeah. Why do you ask? :O_

He replied:

 _Kai: Well why don't you turn on a television to channel 13. Fox 13 is talking about what was discussed on that show a while back. :3_

I blinked, then turned on a TV screen in the back of the limo and turned to Fox 13.

When I did, there was a news bulletin on the new Hope's Peak Academy that was built in Los Angeles and how the 16 students were preparing to enter the school for the first time in one week from today. They also referred back to a Good Morning America story Lara and Michael covered with Kai Brugger attending as the Ultimate Actor and revealing the construction of the school to all of America two months in advance.

Kai texted me soon after.

 _Kai: Guess you don't feel so Ultimate now! JK! XD_

I laughed, then typed my response.

 _Manako: Lol, I guess so. Well, if this seminar goes well, hopefully we'll be able to attend class together._

"Hey, I hope you don't mind..." Chester called back from the driver's seat, "But uh, we're gonna be pickin' someone up along the way."

"Well, as long as you get me to the hotel on time, then that's fine, I guess." I called back, setting my phone down a moment.

After a while of driving, the limo pulled up to a random location somewhere in the city.

When the limo stopped, I peered out the passenger window curiously.

I saw a hooded girl with a red Jessica Rabbit like dress. The hood hid her face from sight as she stood at the side of the road. I swear, it was like something out of a Noir Detective movie…

I saw Chester briefly get out of the driver's side of the limo to open the door for the girl to enter, allowing her to sit on the seat opposite of me.

The girl sat down with her head hung low which prevented me from seeing what she looked like. I did, however see her cringe up like she was nervous or scared.

As the girl had sat down, I noticed Chester quickly get back in the driver's seat and began to drive the limousine again.

"... Hey..." I said, unsure what to say, "Um... Where're ya headed?"

The girl didn't respond. She just shimmied in her seat a little bit. Her hands rubbed together as if she were getting cold.

She looked uncomfortable, so it was up to me to rescue the situation.

"... You want me to turn up the heat?" I offered, "I mean, it's kinda hot outside, but I could turn up the heat if you're feeling cold..."

Something felt off about this girl.

Like, I was getting some really bad vibes from her...

"No, I am fine." The girl spoke up. She had a sweet, velvety voice that matched her dress. "Thank you though. You're very kind for an idol."

"Oh, well, thanks." I said, "I'm pretty nice when it comes to my fans. So, um... Who are you, exactly?"

"Me? I'm no one important." The girl replied blankly but continued speaking. "I was however asked to get acquainted with you before you arrived at the seminar. My master wanted me to show you a few magic tricks."

"'Magic tricks?'" I asked, "So, what, are you part of one of the shows there or something?"

"No. I actually live in New York with my big sister, Stephanie. Now if you don't mind Manako, I should get started before we arrive." She scooted forward and held out her hand. "Please give me your hand for this first trick."

I shrugged, then held my hand out for the girl, putting my phone back in the pocket of my jeans.

She took my hand into her palm and held onto it upwards so my palm was visible. "This trick is all about illusion so don't freak out when you start seeing things. Now do you see a spiral in your palm?" She asked before she had even done anything.

I blinked, deadpanning.

Was this girl for real?

Anyway, I looked at my palm, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

"Maybe if I draw it out for you you'll see what I mean." She then took her finger and lightly traced it along my palm. She drew a circle around my entire palm and continued tracing it. "You'll soon see a spiral form from the skin of your palm and you will feel relaxed." The mysterious girl told me.

Suddenly I would see my palm slowly twist and morph as it looked like it was mixing in the middle and pulling my skin with it in a swirling motion such as a flushing toilet.

I watched the spiral as it spun.

It looked weird, but...

Somehow...

I felt so relaxed.

I felt like Mowgli when he was getting hypnotized by Kaa.

Hell, I probably even had a big-old grin on my face with multicolored, cartoonish spirals in my eyes.

Not that I felt motivated to look in a mirror, though…

I just… Kept watching the spiral…

Soon the wrinkles in my hands were caught in the mixture as they soon formed a spiral with the girl rotating it with her finger in a clockwise motion. But that's when things started getting fuzzy. My head began spinning like my hand was as I felt my eyelids and head grow heavy.

As I looked up, I was able to see the lower half of the girl's face where I saw her porcelain skin and plush lips with black lipstick on her but what would mostly catch my attention was the streak of a tear that rushed down her face as a faint whisper was heard.

"I'm sorry Manako. Please forgive me."

"Wuh... what did you dooooo...". I murmurred.

I felt so sleepy.

I...

... I needed a nap...

Suddenly, as I collapsed on the seat, I seemed to fall through not only the back seat of the limo, but also the world as I fell into some kind of strange space…

It looked like something I'd see if I took acid or DMT.

I heard a voice that was mixed with multiple voices begin to whisper in my head as blank images floated around.

" **He will be the key**." It said.

A sash or bandage like thing then began tightly constricting me as two black, ghoulish, and watery faces appeared in the shadowy background. One began laughing maniacally and the other wept for me as I was wrapped up.

" **You must find him and make him confess his true nature**."

Suddenly before my eyes were covered a shadow of a teddy bear with claws appeared and flew at me as they pierced me and blood floated in front of me.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I awoke with a loud shriek, panting and sweating as I hugged the covers close to me.

However, upon closer inspection, it seemed I was in a luxury queen-sized bed in a luxury hotel room.

I blinked, looking around at the room.

The bedroom of the hotel room featured high-end luxury furnishings, including a huge flat-screen TV on a dresser facing the bed, a writing desk with a chair in front of it in one corner, a closet with a folding door, an access to a luxury bathroom that appeared to also be accessible from the living room area of the hotel.

Not only that, but there was a painting of a black and white cityscape of Las Vegas from the 1940's hanging on the wall behind my bed.

I sat up in my bed…

… But immediately squeaked and covered up when I realized I was in my underwear.

Not only that, but it was a pair of underwear that I modeled once or twice.

Summoning up my courage, I got out of bed and went over to the mirror in the bathroom.

As I did, the alarm clock radio would turn on, playing a classic rock radio station.

" _Yo, this is KHPD The Awesome Mix!"_ the Radio DJ said enthusiastically, " _I'm Papa Bear, and I'm about to play all of you waking up just now the best music from the seventies, the eighties, the Nineties, and the Early 2000's. For those of you who are fans of classical music, are hardcore Quintin Tarantino fans, or just really liked that Guardians of the Galaxy movie, this next song should be right up your ally! It's Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede."_

Sure enough, the aforementioned classical rock song began to play on the Alarm clock radio.

I sighed.

"… Well, it's not the worst song to get ready for the day to…" murmured, then looked to see if I had at least brought my luggage up to my room.

Strangely, my luggage was all placed in the corner of the bedroom, including my clothing suitcase, my modeling clothing suitcase, a duffel bag that had my computer and a bunch of recording equipment since I had intended to Vlog the minute I checked into the hotel, and a small handbag that had all my cosmetic supplies and toiletries in it.

It's strange, because I don't remember arriving at the hotel, nor did I recall even checking in, for that matter, let alone undressing and getting into bed…

Come to think of it, I couldn't remember a lot of things that occurred right before and after I arrived in Vegas.

Did… Did I go to a party and get wasted?

Or… Was I kidnapped and drugged?

Either way, I didn't want to think about either possibility.

I decided to begin my morning routine and showered, brushed my teeth, did my hair in its side ponytail, then got dressed, choosing a pale rose ruffled halter top, a short, ruffled white skirt, a pair of pale purple tights, and a pair of pink, purple, and white high-heeled designer strapped sandals.

As per usual each morning, retrieved my phone from my bedside table, then stood in front of the mirror, then took a selfie of my outfit for the day, then posted the picture on my Twitter page with the caption:

'Just Woke up. About to Vlog before the seminar'

After posting, I pocketed my phone, then went into my recording equipment bag and dug around for my camcorder.

However, even after finding my camcorder, I also saw that there was a mysterious portable Hard Drive with a flash drive taped to it in my bag that I don't remember ever owning.

The Flash drive bore the initials 'A.E.' written on it in silver permanent marker, and the Hard Drive had the words 'Hide immediately after awakening. DO NOT look at contents until the time to Hope comes' written on it in permanent marker as well.

I looked the hard drive over before sighing and hiding it in the one place I knew it would be safe…

Under my mattress.

Then I realized that whoever gave me these items probably were involved in something shady based on how ominous that label sounded, so I decided to look for a better hiding spot.

I looked under the dresser, and I saw there was a small gap between the dresser and the back wall just big enough for me to fit the hard drive in.

So that's where I hid it.

Whatever shit I just got myself in last night, whether it's from a drug gang or the Mob or corrupt cops or even several strangers who pulled off a heist on a diamond store using only codenames, point is, this hard drive and flash drive is obviously important to it.

… Although, that last one might just be the plot to Reservoir Dogs.

I sighed, then began to set up my reporting equipment and began to film my Vlog for today.

Before turning on the camera, I brushed my hair a little bit using my hand, then took a deep breath to get myself in a state of mind where I could film and be focused.

Before turning on the camera, I immediately smiled so that I had a friendly smile ready for the camera.

"Konichiwa, MoonFans!" I said into the camera enthusiastically, giving my usual greeting that I did for every video I've done, "It's me, Manako. Well, I just got to the hotel, and I gotta say, the view is beautiful!"

I opened the curtains of one of the living room windows, showing a beautiful view of the Las Vegas Strip, then briefly pointed the camera at the window to show the view of the Strip below, then continued speaking.

"Now, I know I said I would Vlog the very second I got to the hotel, but as it turned out, the people running the seminar decided it would be a good idea to host a small party last night, so I was attending that and basically had no time to film because I was so exhausted from partying."

I poised dramatically with my hand daintily resting on my forehead when I said 'So exhausted', having put emphasis on those two words.

Also, the part about the party was obviously a lie, but since I genuinely couldn't remember certain events leading up to now, I figured a little white lie was okay for the time being.

"Anyways…" I went on, speaking right into the camera, "I'm about to go downstairs to see the other talented people that Hope's Peak invited to the seminar, so I'll meet you down in a bit."

I did a quick peace sign while winking at the camera before stopping the first bit of recording, at which point I put my small camcorder in a small purse I brought with me, then was about to leave my hotel room when I saw a key card resting on the dining counter of the kitchen area, which was marked with a sun shining over an island paradise that featured a tropical forest, a bunch of ancient ruins, and a volcano blowing smoke in the background, with a banner above the island that read 'Sunshine Paradise Casino Resort, Las Vegas'.

It was obviously the key to my room, so I picked it up and pocketed it in my pocket, then left my hotel room, and was greeted with a tremendous view of the huge atrium below.

The atrium was HUGE; it featured a main area that had a full-scale set of a tropical island paradise in the middle of the ground floor of the atrium that had a lush tropical forest, a bunch of ancient ruins, a pirate fortress, a lagoon of some kind, and a huge, but obviously fake volcano smack dab in the middle of the island that appeared to 'erupt' every so often by way of a fountain of fake lava that was probably melted foam or something that was colored to look like lava.

Basically, the stuff they used for movies, although honestly most movie and TV filmmakers tend to CG their volcanic lava.

To the north of the island set was the entrance to the casino, which obviously I couldn't go to since I'm still a minor, so I guess I can forget about that.

To the south of the island set was a hallway that had a few restaurants, the lobby, and the front entrance to the resort.

To the west was the hallway to the aquarium and the small water park outside the hotel.

And to the east was the entrance to the underground shopping mall, as well as the showrooms and the convention halls.

On the second floor of the atrium, there was another restaurant, this one an all you can eat buffet, as well as a massive video arcade, a gift shop, a café, an authentic 1950's Corner Drugstore-styled lunch counter/Ice Cream shop, a fitness center, and a hallway to a swimming pool located on the west side second floor rooftop terrace, as well as a rental shop for things like swimsuits, wetsuits, inflatable pool toys, that sorta thing.

The third floor of the atrium was dedicated to an authentic Japanese pachinko parlor, which I totally planned on visiting, since I love pachinko, a night club, a Jazz Dive bar, and an off-track betting facility.

Basically, this place was pretty dang happening.

I didn't know where to go first, so I just sorta took the elevator down to the second floor and took it from there.

I decided to check out the Video Arcade first, since video games have always been a guilty pleasure of mine.

As I walked, I also filmed, my camera in my hand as I talked into it to basically talk to the viewers.

Upon arriving at the video arcade, I showed few brief shots of the large selection of arcade games, as well as the classic-style tabletop arcade cabinets that had cup holders on them, a prize counter, the mini casino area, the skee ball lanes, and a shooting gallery with several light guns that were based on real-life guns but with light sensors on them lined up on a bunch of racks, with a counter in front of the 'range', which featured a bunch of movie screens that played footage of full motion video combat scenes for players to shoot at and awarded points based on how well you did.

There was also an area of the arcade dedicated to computer gamers, as it offered a soundproof room with several tables and desks with computer chairs pulled up to them, as well as a poster with a Wi-Fi code, and a bunch of posters of various computer games and ESports tournaments.

I went over to the computer gaming room and saw who appeared to be one of the Ultimates that got invited to the seminar.

He was American, about sixteen or so, with light skin, short, messy black hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb since 2012, blue eyes, a skinny, scrawny body frame that suggested he obviously wasn't much of an athlete, not a physical one, anyway, and wore a black t-shirt with a picture of a cartoonish fox wearing a night watchman's uniform and holding a tablet, pointing at a cartoonishly exaggerated animatronic chicken wearing a hot pink speedo with a fearful expression on his face with a text bubble that read 'Don't you dare you slaaaaaahhhh!' on it, a grey zip-up Filthy Frank 'I Eat Ass' hoody that was fully unzipped, a pair of baggy navy blue denim jeans, a pair of black sneakers, and a pair of high-end headphones around his neck that appeared to be custom-made as they featured a bright orange, scarlet red, and silver zig-zag pattern on them, with a symbol of a fox's tail on the speakers of the headphones, and appeared to be playing a game on an expensive-looking, high-end gaming laptop that had various stickers stuck to the back of it.

He had a pair of earbuds in his ears as he played a computer game of some kind on it.

I approached him, unsure of how to go about getting his attention.

"… Um…" I began, "… Sumimasen… I…"

The boy held up his finger in the 'wait a minute' gesture, then said, "Whatever it is, lady, can it wait? I'm playing a match of League and my team's about to lose."

After a short moment, he shouted out "FUCK! DIE WHERE YOU STAND, MISS FORTUNE!"

I recoiled a little bit, as the boy sighed and said, "… Sorry, we just lost and I got killed by a guy playing as Miss Fortune…"

He sighed, then took out his earbuds before quitting out of his game, then glanced over at me, blinking when as he stared at me a moment, as if processing who I actually was.

He then gained an excited expression then said, "Oh! You're Manako Kumara!"

"Yeah…" I said, "I'm the SHSL Idol, apparently."

"Well, I'm Joey Kelso." The boy introduced, "SHSL Let's Player."

"'Joey Kelso?'" I repeated, then realized who he was and said, "Oh! You're Joesifurr! You did that charity stream of Undertale to benefit the victims of the Oak Creek volcanic eruption!"

"Yuppers!" Joey said, grinning, "And if I'm not mistaken, your YouTube channel broke nearly 20,000,000 subscribers! That's like more than Pewdiepie!"

"Well, what can I say?" I said, grinning, "I'm just so likeable that people like watching my Vlogs, music videos, and modeling videos."

"I'm frankly a little jealous, honestly…" Joey admitted, "I only got like 1,000,000 subscribers… But hey, revenue is revenue, right?"

"I was never in it for the money…" I said, blinking, "Honestly, I just picked up a camera one day after a long rehearsal for a concert when I was still living in Japan, then just sorta took it from there."

"And plus, you're friends with Kai Brugger!" Joey added, "I gotta ask… What's he like? What's his favorite video game? Does he play video games, even?"

"I played Mario Party with him on my WiiU a few times, admittedly…" I admitted, "As for what he's like, well, he's a nice guy. He's humble, he's super-talented, and he's gonna be attending the Hope's Peak campus in LA as the SHSL Actor."

"No…" Joey said, grinning, "Oh, that is SO lit! Is it true you guys live down the street from one another?"

"Yeah, we do." I said, "I live in the Team Moon house, and he lives in a hillside designer mansion down the street."

"I knew it." Joey said, then sat down at his computer, then added, "Alright, so, like, once I finish up here, you wanna maybe go check out some of the other Ultimates here? Maybe do an impromptu collab?"

"I'd love to." I said, nodding, getting out my camera.

Joey closed his laptop and put it into a custom computer satchel bag along with his earbuds, then slung the bag under his shoulder behind him, then said, "Lead the way, Manako-Chan. I think there's one playing the Flight simulator here in the arcade, as a matter of fact."

"Let's go meet them, then." I said, grinning.

As we got ready to get going, I turned on my camera again, beginning to film more for my Vlog.

"So, I just met my first Ultimate," I said into the camera, "And you won't believe who it is…"

I pointed the camera at Joey, who then said, "Whatitdo, bad boys, it's your boy, Joesifurr! Here to do a collab video with Miss Manako!"

"That's right." I said into the camera, turning it to me once again, "We're doin' an impromptu collab while we meet the other Ultimates, so I'm gonna keep filming as we meet them."

I turned off the camera briefly as we approached the next ultimate, then began filming again once we were close.

Once we arrived at the flight simulator machine in the arcade, which was basically like a mini jet fighter cockpit.

The inside of the cockpit was obscured by a tinted windshield, but I could tell someone was inside.

Before too long, the cockpit door opened, and a woman that was a year older than me came out of it.

She looked like she was part Aborigine, with sepia-colored skin, medium length brown hair that was decently combed, but also somewhat greasy, probably from sweat, and was parted in the middle, revealing her bangs, but also had a small braid in the side of her hair with a few colored beads on it. She had brown eyes, as well as a thin, lanky body frame, was about average height at 5'7, and wore an olive green flight jumpsuit like the kind a fighter pilot would wear that had an Australian flag patch above the left front pocket, as well as a patch of the name 'Spencer' above the right front pocket, a pair of black flight boots, and also had a black tribal tattoo on her left wrist, since she had the sleeves of her flight jumpsuit rolled up. Not only that, but she had a pale-yellow bandana tied around her neck as a neckerchief.

"Crikey, this thing has a freaking lag during the landing sequence…" she said, an Australian accent present in her voice.

"Yo." I greeted, "You one of the SHSLs that got invited to this seminar?"

"Hm?" the girl greeted, "Oh! G'day! Yeah, I got invited to this seminar… Took me by surprise when I got the letter, it did. Anyways, I'm Alice Spencer, SHSL Pilot."

"That's right!" Joey said, "You did that cross-country flight from Sydney, Australia all the way to Cardiff, Wales."

"How'd you know that?" I asked Joey.

"I looked everyone here up online on the Hope's Peak website earlier today." Joey answered in a whisper, "Memorized everyone's name, talent, and everything."

"It's true." Alice said, grinning and putting her hands behind her head in a casual manner, chuckling, "I also test-piloted a buncha experimental aircraft for the Australian Air Force, I did. Real interestin' stuff. A lot of it I'm not at liberty to discuss with people off the base, but I'll say that we got some pretty good fighter jets as a result. It all stems from me days as a young kipper learnin' to fly the family crop-duster plane at me family's farm back home in Australia. Me dad happened to be a stunt pilot for an air show, so he knew everythin' about flyin'. He taught me everythin' he knew, and once I got me pilot's license, I couldn't stand not bein' up there in the air in a plane."

"That's amazing!" I said, "No wonder you're the SHSL Pilot!"

"Heh, Thanks mate!" Alice said, grinning, "By th' way, I never got your names."

"Oh, well, I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol." I introduced, "And this is Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"A pleasure to meet a fellow ultimate such as yourself." Joey said with a bow, grinning.

"Good t'know!" Alice said, "I look forward t'hangin' with ya at the seminar this evenin'!"

"Ditto!" I said, "Well, we're gonna go meet some of the other Ultimates. I heard some real talent got invited to this thing."

"See ya later, then." Alice said, as me and Joey departed, looking for other Ultimates.

We didn't really see anyone else at the arcade, so we left the arcade and went to check the Fitness Center next.

The Fitness center happened to have a ton of various exercise equipment, as well as a few sandbags, speed bags, and a training ring for boxers, Mixed martial arts, or even wrestling.

Speaking of wrestling, we spotted someone practicing professional wrestling moves on a training dummy in the middle of the training ring.

It happened to be an incredibly muscular girl about the age of 18, looked to be Latino, with light brown skin, green eyes, short black hair that was bushy and all over the place, again, a very muscular body type that suggested she worked out constantly, stood at 6'8 in height, had relatively small bust size that looked like it shrank into her pecs, a large tattoo of a tiger growling and pouncing with its claws out tattooed all over her entire left arm, and wore a shiny black spandex sports bra coupled with a pair of shiny tiger print spandex pants, a pair of black wrestling boots, and had a shark tooth necklace around her neck.

She was also blasting 'No Easy Way Out' by Robert Tepper on a portable speaker that had a phone with a WWE Official protective case on it on full blast.

I watched in awe as this beastly woman performed a pile driver on the training dummy in the middle of the ring, then emitted a loud, tiger-like roar, then shouted, "I'M THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN, BABY!"

"… Holy shit…" Joey said, gulping, then adding in a whisper, "That guy looks like he could snap my spine in half…"

"Joey…" I whispered back, "… that's a girl…"

"EH?!" Joey exclaimed, "But she… She looks so-"

"Hey!"

The beastly-looking young woman glanced at us, pointing.

"What're you beta-males gawking at?" she said, her voice very rough-sounding for a girl, walking over to the side rope of the ring and climbing out of it, standing right over us, towering like a female, Latino Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

"Oh, we were just…" I said, trailing off, but salvaged the conversation by saying, "… Just admiring your moves…"

"Oh, I bet you were, sweetheart." She said, grinning while flexing her muscles, "After all, The Tigress never fails to impress."

She then rubbed the back of her head, then added, "Although honestly, off the record, it's mostly show. Wrestling is mostly about shouting insults and hittin' each other with folding chairs with some light plot mixed in. Anyways, I'm Eleanor Miller, SHSL Wrestler."

"Well, I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol." I introduced, "And this is Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"A pleasure to meet the girl who won Wrestlemania five times in a row." Joey said.

"Eh, It's nothin', really." Eleanor admitted, "I did also get casted for a few movies. Two of them were action movies, and like three of them were family movies. Honestly, I prefer acting in kid's films than action movies. Most of my fans are kids or teens, anyway, as a matter of fact."

"Well, that's pretty cool." Joey said, "Heck, my fans are mostly teens and young adults, myself, so I know that feeling."

"Yeah, it's pretty rad havin' kids look up to ya, isn't it?" Eleanor said, chuckling, "Well, I'm gonna keep practicin' before the seminar, so if you kids'll excuse me."

Eleanor then climbed back into the ring and gave the training dummy a good suplex for good measure.

We explored the fitness center a little more and saw a young man practicing slapshots on the hockey range.

He looked to be about sixteen in age, was somewhat tall and lanky at about 5'9, had light skin, medium, frizzy brown hair, a little bit of stubble on his chin, brown eyes, and wore a red hockey jersey with an emblem of a cartoonish Sparrow wielding a hockey stick like a sword, with the name Grievky on the back of the Jersey, along with the number 7 on the back as well, as well as wearing a pair of tan cargo pants, a pair of black sneakers, and gold medal around his neck that suggested he was an Olympian.

He also had 'Take on Me' by Ah-Ha playing on a portable speaker that his own phone was hooked up to set on a nearby counter.

The young man looked like he was really into his practicing that he hardly noticed me and Joey watching him.

Before too long, the guy stopped to rest a moment, resting his hockey stick on his shoulder as he went to take a sip from a Gatorade bottle he had next to him.

It was only then that he noticed us.

"Oh hey, you guys must be more of the Ultimates that got invited to this shindig." He said.

"Yeah… I'm Manako Kumara." I introduced.

"And I'm Joey Kelso." Joey introduced, "Say… You're the SHSL Centerman, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's me." The young man said with a chuckle, smiling his perfect smile, "The name's Daniel Grievky. You can call me Danny for short. That's what my friends call me."

"I see you have a gold medal around your neck." I said, pointing.

"Oh, this?" Danny said, chuckling, "Oh, it's nothing. Just a reminder that my Hockey team beat the Russian Hockey team at the Sochi Olympics."

"I remember watching that on TV." I said, "Isn't that the same year that girl Sienna Donnely won the gold medal in the Figure Skating event?"

"That's correct." Danny nodded, "She… Well, she was pretty damn graceful on the ice… The Blind Ice Dancer… She also did this performance over in Tokyo that just… Man… She's so beautiful, don't you think?"

"Well, you certainly seem to hold her in high regard." I shrugged.

"That's because she's my best friend from my younger days." Danny said, "We practiced at the same ice rink that my dad runs at the local Community center. Man… those were the days…"

He seemed lost in his thoughts a moment before he finally snapped back to reality, then said, "Well, I'm gonna swing by the lunch counter and get a sub. Gotta keep my strength up."

He turned off the music he had playing, then put his portable speaker in a gym bag he had with him, then put his phone in his pocket, then carrying his hockey stick and his Gym bag with him as he left the fitness center.

"You know who he reminds me of in terms of looks?" Joey said suddenly.

"Who, dare I ask?" I asked.

"He reminds me of Vincent from Katherine." Joey said, "I'm sure that's worth a good Google Image search."

"I'm sure it is…" I deadpanned.

With that, we departed from the Fitness Center, then decided to swing by the Lunch Counter/Ice Cream shop. Figured there would be a few more Ultimates there as well.

Turns out we weren't wrong.

Besides Danny sitting at the lunch counter munching on a Italian sub, we saw an African boy of about 17 years practicing chess at a video chess game that was built into one of the booth tables.

He had dark skin, short black hair, blue eyes, average body type, and wore a white button-up shirt underneath a light tan dress vest with a red tie worn underneath, a pair of grey dress slacks, a pair of black dress shoes, and a pair of silver-framed eyeglasses.

He looked to be deep in thought as he looked at the screen of the chess game, as if pondering his next move.

"… Excuse me?" I said, but the young man simply said in a polite tone, "Hold on a moment, if you please…"

He looked at the screen a little longer before finally making his move.

" _Checkmate!_ " said a cheery voice on the chess game, " _You win!_ "

"Ah, another game won…" he said, adjusting his glasses in a sophisticated manner, then looked to me and Joey and said, "And you two must be more of these SHSLs attending this fine Seminar."

He stood, then bowed and said, "I am Johan Sinclair, SHSL Chessmaster."

Johan certainly had a sophisticated aura to him. Almost like he had played chess with a lot of important people.

"I'm Manako Kumara." I introduced, "And this is Joey Kelso."

"You're the guy who beat that Japanese computer at chess, aren't you?" Joey said.

"Indeed I am." Johan said, smiling, "It put up a good game, but in the end I proved that man is better than the machines…"

He laughed, then shook my hand in a friendly and enthusiastic manner and added, "Miss Manako… I have a feeling you and I will be quite the best pals, my friend. I can see it in your eyes…. Plus, you just have quite the friendly, warm-hearted aura about you."

"Uh, thanks…" I said, "You certainly have a sophisticated aura to you, as well."

"But of course, my friend." Johan said, chuckling, "I attended school in Germany for a time when I was studying abroad from my school in Johannesburg. I learned many things there."

"Good to know." I said, nodding.

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat some more…" Johan said, "But I must be off… I plan to check out the bookstore in the underground mall before the seminar."

"Alright, see ya then." I said, as Johan waved to us before leaving.

We decided to leave as well, since there was no other Ultimates we hadn't met yet at the lunch counter/Ice Cream shoppe, so we decided to check out the swimming pool.

On the way there, we heard a girl's yell at us with a thick Brooklyn accent.

"Yo, outta the way!"

A girl of about 16 pushed right past us while on roller skates.

The girl had light skin, longish black hair with pink highlights in the front, green eyes, had a bright, hot metallic pink star painted on her face around her left eye, black lipstick, black costume-like eyeliner and mascara, and wore a hot pink latex suit with silver and green flames printed on the sleeves and legs of the suit, a pair of hot pink fingerless gloves, silver and green elbow pads and kneepads, and had on a pair of silver and pick roller skates with hot pink wheels, silver trucks, and neon green laces.

"Hey, watch it, lady!" Joey shouted after the girl.

At that, the girl stormed over to Joey and snarled, "You wanna fuckin' go, pal?"

She made a motion like she was gonna punch Joey, at which he flinched, and she said, "Yeah, that's right, pal. You fuckin' flinch like a pussy."

"Hey c'mon…" I said, rescuing the situation, "We don't want to fight or anything. We're just here for the seminar."

"Well, so am I." the girl responded, "Why do you think I'm practicing skating?"

She put a stick of bubble gum in her mouth, then said, "Listen… Th' name's Kelly Monroe. SHSL Roller Derby Champion. Remember that name, pal."

"Didn't you and your team win like several championships in a row?" Joey asked.

"Damn fuckin' straight we did!" Kelly boasted, smirking, "Me and my girls know how to kick some major ass! Hell yeah! Whenever we step in the rink, you know we're gonna beat th' other teams into mincemeat!"

"That's pretty impressive." I mused.

"You're damn right it is!" Kelly boasted, "So, what're your talents?"

"Well, I'm the SHSL Idol…" I said, "And Joey here is the SHSL Let's Player."

"I see…" Kelly said, blowing a bubble with her gum, "Well, maybe your talents will come in handy for changin' the world for the better."

"'Changing the world?'" I repeated.

"Yup." Kelly said, "That's what this's all about. It's about gauging our talents and seeing who's got th' skills to pay the bills! And create a brighter tomorrow or some shit."

"A brighter tomorrow…" I repeated in a murmur.

It seemed like such a lofty goal…

Gauging the talents of twenty people...

All to create a better future for this world…

… Well, I'm positive I won't disappoint.

"Well, I'll leave you to guys to it, then." Kelly said, "I gotta keep my game up."

She grinned, then skated off once more.

I shrugged, then led Joey towards the swimming pool.

When we got to the swimming pool, we'd hear that someone was playing 'Prayer' by Hailey Westenra on a portable speaker by the pool.

And I'm not knocking that.

I actually like that song.

It's super-calming and often times I listen to it while doing some light meditating or while at a spa or something.

Anyways, we got closer to the pool, and we saw something we didn't expect to see.

There was a 15 year old mermaid swimming gracefully in the pool.

She had suntanned skin that suggested she spent a lot of time at the beach, long, blonde hair that was naturally wavy and had a barrette shaped like a starfish in it, bright blue eyes, a small, thin body frame that was reminiscent of that of Ariel from Little Mermaid, and had a long, bright blue mermaid tail that glistened in the sunlight, pearl string necklace draped around her neck, and swimsuit bikini top.

"Whoa…" Joey said, "You meant to tell me that Mermaids exist and Hope's Peak invited one to the seminar?"

"She's not really a mermaid, you know." I said to Joey, "Mermaids don't really exist. She's just wearing a PVC mermaid tail sheath swimsuit."

"Oh…" Joey said, sounding and looking disappointed, "… Can I still pretend she's a mermaid?"

I shrugged, then simply said, "… Sure. Go for it."

The two of us watched the suntanned girl swim a little longer, and it wasn't until about twenty minutes into the routine that she finally noticed us, and simply stared at us in a way a prey animal would a predator animal.

"… Hi…" I greeted finally, waving, "You uh… You doing a few laps?"

The girl recoiled a moment, then swam over to the poolside and pulled herself onto the side of the pool…

… Only for her bikini top to accidentally unlatch itself and slip off her body, revealing that she was actually really well-endowed.

She squeaked, then blushed profusely as she covered up with her hands.

"D-D-Don't look!" She cried, looking away, "I'm lewd!"

I saw Joey's nose begin to bleed as he had looked, then wiped his nose and said, "I… I didn't look… Kinda…"

The girl blushed, looking like she was ready to cry.

"Hey…" I said, "I can help with your bikini top if you want."

"… S-sure…" the girl stammered meekly.

I squatted next to the girl, looking her bikini top over, then helped her put it back on, but had trouble working the latch in the back of it.

"You sure this thing fits you, miss?" I asked, "'Cause if you don't mind me saying, I think either it got small or you got big."

"… Y-you're probably right…" she said, looking down, "… My breasts grew quite a bit this year, so it's been hard finding a bra that fits and is comfortable…"

"Yeah, I know that feel…" I said, "Back when I first started to develop, I often times felt so embarrassed going to the store to buy bras, 'cause like, it meant that I was in full view of people who could ask how big my boobs were."

"I-I see…" the girl said, "… Well, I kind of have gone through many bras and bikini tops in my career as a mermaid performer…"

She blinked, then said, "Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself…"

She took a deep breath, then said, "My name is Clarissa Arden. SHSL Mermaid Performer."

"Well, I'm Manako Kumara." I introduced.

"I know…" Clarissa said meekly, then smiled a little bit and added, "I… Watch your Vlogs quite a lot… In fact, I'm actually subscribed to your Vlog channel, your Modeling channel, and your music channel."

"Ya don't say?" I said, smiling, "Well, one thing you'll know about me is that I love meeting up with fans."

"I-I know…" Clarissa said, then recoiled and said, "S-sorry! I didn't mean t-to use a tone!"

"It's fine, really." I reassured her, "You were just answering me."

Clarissa nodded.

"I… Like watching all your interactions with your fans whenever you go to VidCon or some other meetup or YouTuber convention… You… You're always so nice… So kind… I…"

"So, you said you were the SHSL Mermaid Performer…" I said, "What exactly does that entail?"

"Oh, well…" Clarissa said, "… I… My parents own an Ocean-themed Theme park and aquarium over in Florida… You might have heard of it… it's called 'Blue Ocean'. As such, since my Dad does the books and runs the park, my mom, myself, and my three older sisters all perform at the park's Mermaid show that it has become famous for… Not only that, but I also perform a few extra shows for the Aquarium at the park, often performing alongside trained dolphins or seals…"

"Didn't that place have a charity event for the victims of that nasty oil spill a while back?" I asked, surprised that Joey wasn't the one pointing this out, as he appeared to be silent as he let me do the talking.

Clarissa nodded.

"I… Did a special performance for the attendees of the charity event…" she said, "All eyes were on me that day, so I performed with the utmost grace and beauty… That… Was the performance that gained me my SHSL title."

"Wow…" I said, "That's pretty impressive."

"Thank you." Clarissa said, smiling, "I… Look forward to seeing you at the conference in the convention hall this evening."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I said, smiling.

I then stood again, then said, "Alright, well, me and Joey are gonna go meet some more of the other Ultimates."

"Okay." Clarissa said, "Um… H-have fun…"

I then pulled Joey along as we left the pool.

There didn't seem to be any other Ultimates on the second floor, so we went down to the first floor to look around there.

We'd see another such ultimate observing the volcano on the set in the middle of the atrium.

He was about 17 in age, about 6' tall, with light skin, short, parted red hair, emerald green eyes, a thin, but athletic body frame that suggested he did a lot of hiking or climbing, and wore a dusty grey button-up shirt underneath a tan field vest, a pair of dirty tan hiking pants, a pair of brown hiking boots that looked like a few of the rubber parts had been slightly melted in some places, had a compass around his neck, as well as a mouth-covering respirator mask that looked like the kind a person who worked with or around chemicals with toxic fumes would wear worn around his neck, a pair of brown fingerless gloves, and a pair of half-frame eyeglasses.

The young man appeared to be watching the fake-assed volcano 'erupt', then writing something down in a notepad he had on him whenever it did so.

As me an Joey approached the young man, the boy spoke without looking at us.

"This Volcano would not be found in a settin' such as this…" he said, an Irish accent present in his voice.

"… Come again?" I asked.

"Look at th' crater, lass." The boy said, pointing, "Notice how th' lava shoots upward more prominently… That's more common in volcanoes found in places like Iceland or Sicily. This would not occur in too many places in the pacific… A lot of the volcanoes I've seen in the pacific feature Hawaiian eruptions, where the lava fountains are smaller and the lava flows are much slower an' calmer. You could outrun a lava flow like that by simply walkin'."

The boy looked to me, then smiled and shook my hand, introducing himself.

"Martin McKenzie. SHSL Volcanologist." He said.

"Manako Kumara." I greeted, "SHSL Idol. This is my friend Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

Joey gasped, going wide-eyed.

"Manako-Chan…" he said, an excited smile on his face, "… You already consider me your friend?!"

"Yes." I answered, then turned to Martin and said, "More importantly, I've heard of you. You predicted the violent eruption of that volcano in the Cascade mountains that leveled a small suburban town of Oak Creek, Oregon."

"Aye." Martin nodded, sighing, "My predictions of when it would erupt, as well as the severity and blast radius of the eruption helped town officials to evacuate the affected areas and lowered the amount of civilian casualties brought upon by the eruption… Unfortunately, people still died in th' eruption, but we managed to keep the death toll down quite a bit… However, the structural damage was still done… An entire community was destroyed in a matter of hours… That part saddens me, but I am at least grateful that my efforts were recognized by Hope's Peak, thus grantin' me an Ultimate title."

"Yeah, but…" I said, "SHSL Volcanologist seems like a rather… 'Specific' talent, don't you think?"

"Well, it's no different than SHSL Let's player, innit?" Martin mused.

"… What's that supposed to mean?" Joey asked, sounding offended.

"We're gonna go." I said quickly, chuckling nervously as I pulled Joey along with me.

The two of us headed towards the Casino next, knowing full well that even though we couldn't gamble, we could at least look and see if any Ultimates were wandering the casino.

We'd immediately get out answer when we spotted a young man crouched in front of an ATM machine with a black duffel bag open next to him.

He was about 16 in age, with light skin, a tall, lanky body frame that looked like it at least had some muscle to it, short brown hair that was buzzed around the sides, but parted in the front, green eyes, and wore a black 'The Clash' T-shirt worn underneath a black zip-up hoody with the words 'Fuck Yanks' written on the back, a pair of dark blue jeans with torn knees on them, a pair of worn out black sneakers, and upon looking at the open bag more carefully, I'd see that there was a portable circular saw and a submachine gun of some kind in it, and he appeared to be prying at something on the side of the front of the ATM with a crowbar.

I looked to Joey, wondering if we should call the police.

He seemed to have the idea, as he already had his phone out just in case.

"… Excuse me sir…" Joey said, keeping his eyes on the boy, "Can we help you with something?"

The boy suddenly turned to Joey and aimed a semi-automatic .50 caliber handgun at him.

"You can start by fuckin' off, sunshine." The boy responded, a cockney English accent in his voice, a huge juxposition to Martin whom we met only moments ago, "I'm fuckin' busy."

"We can see that." I said, as me and Joey put our hands up instinctively, "… But… Robbing an ATM in broad daylight? Really?"

"Yeah, fuckin' really." The boy said, standing and scowling at us, "It's my fuckin' talent."

Joey blinked, then gained a look of realization as he processed who this was.

"Oh!" he said, "So you're-"

"The name's George Trautmore. SHSL Bank robber." The boy introduced, holstering his handgun under his sweater.

"I read about you before I came here." I said, "You robbed that big bank in London and got away scot-free."

"Oh, so you've been doin' research, have ya?" George mused, "Well, who would've guessed Hope's Peak was lookin' for guys like me?"

"I'm Manako Kumara." I greeted, "SHSL Idol, and this is Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"Oh, so you're that annoying American twat my kid brother watches on YouTube all the time?" George said to Joey, "I swear, every time I walked in on him watchin' ya you were advertising that stupid fucking chair…"

"It's not just a chair, sir." Joey huffed, "It's a high-quality, high-end computer gaming chair! It's made of real Italian leather, has lumbar support, adjustable handrests, a custom Joesifur design printed on it, and it can recline all the way back. Only $399."

"A fuckin' waste of money is what it is…" George scoffed, "What kinda bloody mongoloid would waste money on a bloody chair?"

"Hey." I defended, "I bought one of those chairs."

"Well, you certainly looked retarded when I saw you, that's for sure." George responded, then smirked and added, "You ride the short bus to the hotel or somethin', sunshine?"

"I'm not validating that with a response." I said firmly, pulling Joey along, "Let's go, Joey. Let's let baby face here get back to his felony."

"Watch yerself, sunshine." George responded as the two of us walked away, "I don't care that you're a girl. I'll fuckin' kick your teeth in, I will."

I casually flipped George the middle finger as me and Joey left him, choosing to turn a blind eye to his criminal activities for the time being, deciding to put a pin in calling the police on him for later.

Instead, we approached an area of the casino where there was a distinct Egyptian theme as it's motif, which is where we met our next Ultimate.

She was an 18-year-old woman of Egyptian-American descent, with ebony skin, long, straight black hair that was hidden under an Egyptian crown, green eyes, black Egyptian-styled eyeliner around her eyes, a curvy, voluptuous body frame with a well-endowed bust, long, elegant legs, and wore a tan safari top with the top buttons left unbuttoned to expose cleavage and the sleeves rolled up, a golden Egyptian choker necklace around her neck, a pair of tan safari shorts, a pair of Egyptian sandals, and seemed to have 'bandages' wrapped around her legs and forearms like she was wearing a mummy bandage undersuit of some kind. She was also carrying an Egyptian cane scepter as well, thus adding to her Egyptian Archeologist Queen motif.

This woman… Looked like she was in the wrong series.

She looked more like the kinda woman who would be playing a Children's Card Game for the fate of being sent to the shadow realm.

"I guarantee you she's gonna summon the Winged Dragon of Ra if we talk to her." Joey whispered to me.

Suddenly, the young woman glanced at us.

"… I think she heard you." I said flatly.

"… Woops…" Joey said, cringing.

The woman looked at us, then smiled slightly, then said, her voice holding a tone as sultry and voluptuous as her body, "Ah~ It seems that I am graced with the presence with a pair of SHSL Students like myself… Tell me… What brings you two luscious lost lambs to me today?"

"We're not lost." I said, "We're just exploring. I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol, and this is-"

"Joey. Joey Kelso." Joey introduced, smirking as he introduces himself in a flirty manner, "SHSL Let's Player. Tell me something… Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt, sweetie?" the woman asked.

"When you fell from…. Um… Egyptian Heaven." Joey said, faltering, but instantly recovering his pickup line.

The woman giggled, then patted Joey on the head.

"Oh, you adorable little boy… The realm in which the Gods and Goddesses of Egypt dwelled in isn't 'Heaven' per say, but I'll say that many cities in Egypt often had their own specific set of Gods that they worshipped. Some would worship Bast and Ra, while others would worship Osiris and Bast. It's fascinating to think about how many different sets of Gods each city worshipped separately."

She sighed, then added, "Still, there's so much we still don't know about the Egyptians… But that's why Egyptologists like me have dedicated their lives and careers to studying the ruins of the civilization the Egyptians left behind…"

The woman paused a moment, then said, "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Vivian Harriet, SHSL Egyptologist. And now you two must reciprocate the greeting."

"I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol." I introduced, "My friend here that is looking at you creepily is Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"Do you play a lot of Yu Gi Oh?" Joey asked, chuckling creepily.

I could already tell by the stupid expression on his face that Joey was already fetishizing this poor woman in his head.

"A pleasure to meet both of you." Vivian greeted with a bow, smiling warmly.

"So, your talent came from when you discovered that part of a one of the pyramids that hadn't been mapped out before, correct?" Joey asked.

"Why yes." Vivian said, "Believe it or not, I had found it by complete accident, but what a find it was… Finally, we had a better understanding of the lives that pharaohs and queens lived, even if it was told through inscriptions in their tombs… Still, there was much still left to discover… In fact… one of the things I discovered in that tomb was a recipe for Egyptian Beer."

"No…" Joey said, in awe, "The Egyptians had _beer_?!"

"Yes indeed." Vivian said, nodding, "We found jars in the tomb that had light traces of the ingredients used to make the beer lining the inside of them, so using forensic chemical science, we were able to determine which ingredients were used, as well as how they were prepared."

"Oh, I bet they threw kick-ass parties…" Joey said, "Oh man… I wish I had a time machine so I could go party with them. I bet you'd be into their parties too, Manako. Hell, you'd probably be treated like royalty based on how pretty you look."

"Ah, ah, I wouldn't be too sure, Joey, dear…" Vivian cooed, smirking, "Egyptian Royalty were often very vain, especially the ones in my lineage. This might seem hard to believe… But I descend from a wealthy, beautiful, but also very vain Egyptian princess."

"Really?" I asked, half-sarcastic, "I would've never guessed…"

Especially considering this broad's dressed like she WANTS to be mummified… I added mentally.

"Yes…" Vivian said, but sighed and poised dramatically and added, "But, sadly, her vanity and her fickleness was her downfall, as her high priest, who was jealous of her, kidnapped her and tried to get her to marry him. When she refused, the story goes that he had her mummified alive and put a magical curse on her so that she would never age or die while wrapped up tight in linen bandages…"

She pointed to her crown and necklace, then said, "This crown and choker necklace happen to be replicas of the ones she wore when she was briefly queen of her domain."

"Damn…" Joey said, "That's a little dark…"

"I know…" Vivian said, smirking, "Isn't it just grand?"

"Yeah, no, that's great or whatever…" Joey murmured, then grabbed my hand and said, "Hey, uh, Manako-Chan, we're going over there for a bit."

With that, Joey began tugging me along as we went further into the casino.

We stopped when we came up to an area of the casino that had a few arcade games, some of which awarded tokens that could both be used to exchange for money or prizes or to be used with other games in the casino.

"Welp…" Joey said, sighing, "My Egyptian Boner's gone…"

"Joey, you can't fetishize every busty woman you see." I responded, deadpanning, "That's really rude and also borderline misogynistic."

"Well, I mean, the lady's hot, yeah…" Joey defended, "But when she started talkin' about mummies and curses and shit I couldn't help but get all turned off and weirded out."

"Joey…" I said, sighing, before clasping my hands together and saying, "I want you to do something for me…"

"What's that?" Joey asked.

"Let me be the one to strike up conversation with the next Ultimate first. Can you do that?"

"Sure… I guess…" Joey said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Annyeong!" a young girl's voice greeted cheerily in Korean, as Joey was literally Jump-scared like in one of the Five Nights at Freddy's Let's Plays that he's been known for in recent days.

I glanced over, seeing the speaker.

It was a fourteen and a half-year old Korean-Hawaiian girl with reddish brown skin, short deep red hair that was done in a short bun held up with a pair of porcelain hairpins, bright blue eyes, was under five feet tall, was small and scrawny, and wore a white floral-print t-shirt with the bottom of it tied up to show a bit of midriff, a long, pink floral print skirt that went to her ankles, a pair of brown sandals, a coral bead bracelet on her left wrist, and a pink silk crop top that down to the middle of her stomach and had super-long sleeves that almost went over her hands and almost looked too big for her.

"… Yo." I greeted, "You uh… You dressed for one of the shows?"

The girl giggled, then said, "No, silly! I'm dressed for the Seminar! I'm gonna do some traditional Hawaiian and Korean dancing at the afterparty that I was told there would be."

"I didn't hear about an afterpar-" Joey began, but I interrupted with, "Yeah, that's later, though, probably past your bedtime-anyways! Introductions… Gotta say hi. I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol, and this is my good friend Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"Well, Aloha, you two!" the girl greeted, "I'm Liza Song, SHSL Folk Dancer."

"Didn't you do like a big dance recital with your dance group at some big military charity function?" Joey asked.

"Yup yup!" Liza chirped, "There was this big Navy War games between the American and Japanese Navy in honor of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and so after the war games, there was a massive charity ball to benefit victims of a recent Typhoon in the Philippines, so me and my dancing group got chosen to perform a traditional Hawaiian Dance for the troops, their families, and the donors. The performance was so good that they all donated a lot of money to the charity to be used to help a lot of people! It was so cool!"

"I'll bet it was." I said, smiling, "You sure seem enthusiastic about it."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Liza chirped, beaming, "My mommy and daddy were both so proud of me for it!"

"Good to know." I said, "Well, me and Joey are gonna go meet some more Ultimates."

"Alright, have fun!" Liza said, smiling as she bowed.

Me and Joey left Liza to her own devices as we left the Casino area, headed towards the Underground mall next.

The Underground mall had many different shops, although some appeared to currently be closed.

The only shops that appeared to currently be open were a self-serve multinational lunch counter that had foods from various countries, a Book store, a clothing store, a toy store, a costume store, and a store that sold traditional clothing and other items from various countries in all of Asia.

We decided to check in the cultural store first, since I wanted to see if they had any kimonos that I could wear to any parties.

Inside the store, we'd see a variety of traditional Asian, middle-eastern, and Eastern European clothing, as well as various luxury items from these countries.

There was even a section dedicated to antique swords from various Asian countries.

Speaking of, we'd see a girl who we believed to be another Ultimate browsing the selection of swords.

She was about 15 and a half in age, of Japanese-American descent, with long magenta hair with lime green, metallic silver, and scarlet red streaks and highlights in it held in a high ponytail, blue-grey eyes, a thin, but athletic body frame, a somewhat developed body, since she had a slight bust, and wore a fishnet midriff top with one long left sleeve, a backless black leather breastplate, a pair of black leather ninja shoulderpads, a pair of black spandex pants, a pair of black leather kneepads, a black leather ninja gauntlet on her right hand, a pair of rose-tinted goggles worn on her head that looked like something Catwoman from DC Comics would wear, a pair of black leather Ninja sandals, and had a bunch of prop ninja swords on her back, including a Katana, two Wakazashi short swords, and a pair of Tanto knives.

Keep in mind that I only know the names of these because of all my time I spent in Japan hanging out with my cousin, who is super into Anime and Samurai movies.

Anyways, point is, this Girl looked like she too was in the wrong series.

She looked like she was geared up to fight Madara Uchiha for the fate of the Hidden Leaf Village.

We approached the girl, but when we got close, she suddenly jerked around to face us and drew her Katana, pointing it at me.

"You!" she shouted, then scowled at me and asked, "You dare to approach a Ninja warrior like myself unarmed? Heh… A foolish gesture indeed."

"Easy there, Obito." I said, recoiling, "We're just here to meet up with Ultimates."

"Well, it seems you've gotten your wish…" the girl said, "Now, tell me… To whom have you made your contract with?"

"… Come again?" I asked.

"Who is the one who calls you master?!" the girl commanded, "Answer me!"

"I think she's asking if you have a pet." Joey said.

"Oh…" I said, then said to the girl, "Well, then just say that. And to answer your question, yes, I have a cat named Mimari. One of my friends is taking care of her while I'm here."

"I see…" the girl said, sheathing her sword, then smirked and said, "Well then, as long as you honor the one who calls you master, then you and I have no problems."

She bowed, then said, "the name is Hana Jovi. SHSL Animal Rescuer."

"I heard you once did this massive puppy and dog rescue a recently." Joey said.

"You're quite astute, headphones boy." Hana said, nodding, "Indeed, I did perform a rescue mission to save over twenty-five dogs who were being abused in a massive dogfighting ring… It angered me to see so many innocent dogs being used as nothing more than tools to be used to fight each other… Regardless, the culprits got what they deserved… A thorough beating from me… And also 18 years jailtime…"

"So, I feel like I should ask…" I said, "… why're you dressed like a Ninja?"

"What're you talking about?" Hana mused, "I always dress like this. It is my destiny to serve the great Yo-kai Queen, Nekobata, as her right hand in this realm…"

"… Sure…." I said, then said, "We're gonna go somewhere else…"

I pulled Joey along as we left the crazy Naruto girl.

Once we were, out of proper earshot, I finally said, "… I think I want you to start the conversation with the next Ultimate."

"Why?" Joey asked.

"Because I got the last two and both were these over the top characters…" I answered, sighing, "Seriously, is this gonna be a running theme?"

"Knowing the writer, probably…" Joey murmured.

"What was that?" I asked him.

"Nothing!" Joey quickly answered.

"Look, let's just find someone who looks like an ultimate…" I sighed, looking around the underground mall.

I got my answer when I saw a young man standing in front of a closed shop that bore a sign on the iron grating that read 'Coming Soon: TactiKuma's Tactical Outfitter; Army/Navy Surplus, Guns, Ammunition, Outdoor'

The young man was about a year older than me, with pale skin that suggested he either didn't get a lot of sun or preferred the night life, a thin, slightly muscular body frame, pale blue eyes, medium layered blonde hair that was neatly combed, a scar on his left cheek, and wore a black trench coat overtop a black and white pinstripe dress vest that was worn overtop a navy blue dress shirt and a black tie, a pair of black pinstripe dress pants that matched his vest, a pair of black leather boots that looked super-expensive and also European-made, and also had the sleeves of both his dress shirt and his trench coat rolled up a little bit, revealing he had quite a few tattoos on his arms, one of which was notably a tattoo of a carpenter's hammer being held by a fist with a pair of AK-47 assault rifles criss-crossing behind it, with some Russian text bordering it.

The youth seemed to be talking on a smartphone in Russian, sounding like he was in the middle of an important call.

"Oh, I read about that guy." Joey said, "That's…"

Joey trailed off, getting out his phone and checking the Hope's Peak website just to be sure.

"… 'That's?'" I asked.

"Give me a minute, I'm checking." Joey said, "… Okay, so I was right."

"Right about what?" I asked.

"On the site, that guy over there is simply listed as 'Yuri'…" Joey said, "'The SHSL Hitman.'"

"SHSL Hitman?!" I repeated, sorta loudly at that, "Like, John Wick and shit?!"

"According to the information given in his bio on the site…" Joey said, "… He got his title after successfully pulling off a major political assassination of a world leader. But that's where things get mysterious; Apparently the site doesn't disclose the details of the Political leader he killed, nor the location he killed them at or the method used…"

I blinked, my gaze fixated behind Joey.

"… He's behind me, isn't he?" Joey asked.

I nodded, and Joey turned around.

Sure enough, Yuri had actually approached us, an emotionless expression on his face.

"… My apologies…" Yuri said coolly, "… I do not vish to intrude… But you two are being rather loud, and I'm currently trying to make an important call…"

"Oh, sorry." I said, bowing, "I just was talking with my friend and I didn't know how loud we were being…"

I chuckled nervously at that last part.

Yuri didn't appear to be impressed.

"… Hey, Joey, let's go over there." I said, once again pulling Joey away from an incredibly awkward conversation.

I led Joey over to the bookstore, breathing a sigh of relief as I leaned against a shelf of books.

"… Jeez, that guy was really intimidating…" I said.

"Well, he is the SHSL Hitman…" Joey sighed.

I nodded, silent a moment.

"… I wonder if they have any good manga in this bookstore…" I wondered aloud, headed towards the comics section of the bookstore.

There, I'd see a girl that was the same age as me reading a Manga titled 'Neko Sentai Girls'.

The cover featured a few girls of various ages under 15 dressed in form-fitting Super Sentai suits themed after different kinds of predatorial cats.

They were also all color-coded, as per usual in most Sentai fighter mangas and shows.

The girl reading it had fair, beautiful skin, long rose-colored hair that went down past her shoulders and back and was layered on the sides and wavy in the front and on the tips, bright, beautiful blue eyes, a skinny, almost small body frame that gave the impression that she doesn't do a lot of physical activity, was tall at about 6'3, had a medium bust size, long, elegant legs, and was wearing a pale blue and rose-colored Lolita dress with a ton of bows on it and had a long, ankle-length skirt and a tightly-cinched corseted waist that gave her absolutely perfect posture, a pink lace choker necklace, a pair of frilly white lace undergarments, a pair of platinum high-heeled slippers, a platinum tiara encrusted with diamonds and sapphires, and a pair of elbow-length white silk gloves with frills and bows on them.

"She looks so beautiful…" Joey said, looking at the girl in awe, as I eyed her with great interest.

"… Manako-Chan?" Joey asked, "… You alright?"

I said nothing, but instead approached the girl.

"Excuse me…." I said to her, as she looked at me, "… I see you're reading Neko Sentai Girls…"

The girl blinked, then said, "… Y-yes… It… It's my favorite Manga series."

"Lady…" I said, looking the girl right in the eyes, "… I. LOVE. NEKO SENTAI GIRLS."

"… You do?" the girl asked, sounding intrigued.

"Yes ma'am." I said, grinning, "You're looking at the number one Neko Sentai Girl fangirl of the Western Seaboard of America."

The girl's eyes went wide as an excited smile spread across her face.

"Oh my Gosh, I gotta ask," she said, "Which is your favorite Neko Girl?"

"Do you have to ask?" I laughed, "Pink Puma, of course. Who's yours?"

"Honestly…" the girl said, "… I'm more prone to Purple Panther, myself…"

"'Purple Panther?'" I repeated, "I guess you must have not read one of the later arcs, but… Naw, I'll let you find out for yourself. You're reading the book in which 'it' happens, anyway."

"Alright, well, who's your favorite enemy of the Neko Girls?" the girl asked.

"I've always been a fan of Laughing Stock…" I said, giggling madly, then saying in a voice similar to an evil villain southern belle from the French Quarter of New Orleans, "Ah'll leave those Neko Girls gigglin' and laughin' by th' time Ah'm done with 'em! After all, no one matches the gassy might of 'The Gigglin' Queen of Fools of Th' French Quarter!'"

I then said in my regular voice, "And then Pink Puma would be like…"

I then said in a voice similar to Tara Strong voicing a foul-mouthed streetwise girl, "Bring it on, Hyena-breath! I'll knock your teeth in all the way back to New Orleans!"

The girl giggled, then said, "And of course, you know Gold Tiger would be like…"

The girl cleared her throat, then seemed to pretend to tremble a bit as she said with a less confident-sounding voice, "C-Careful, Pink Puma! I think she has a hyena balloon gas grenade on her!"

"And then just immediately after telling Gold Tiger she'll be fine," I said, giggling, "Pink Puma gets hit by one of Laughing Stock's Hyena Balloon gas grenades and poofs out into a round, bouncy, giggling hyena balloon. I swear, I feel like Laughing Stock's voice actress in the English dub of the anime must have so much fun voicing her, especially considering she was also the voice of Angelica Cassini in Furry Thieves, and we both know how much of a lunatic Angie was."

I then gained a look of realization, then said, "Oh! That's issue number six, right?"

The girl nodded.

"So, you're at the one fight, right?" I asked.

"I'm at a fight between Blue Lynx and Candy Stalker from the Calendar Gang." The girl answered.

"Ohhhh, you're close…" I said, "Oh, you're so close to a fight that made me genuinely upset. When 'it' happened, I just like 'Noooooo!' and didn't pick the volume up again for weeks."

"I see…" the girl said, nodding, "Well, I guess I may as well buy this Volume, since I don't have it yet… And also because I think we're boring your friend over there…"

I glanced over and saw that Joey was playing a game on his phone while he waited for me and the girl's conversation to be over.

"… No, please, keep talking about Japanese Superhero shit that I have no idea about…" Joey said, shrugging.

"Well, in any case…" I said, "I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol, and this uncultured youth over here is Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance…" the girl said regally, curtsying, "My name is Queen Belle Lovegood, SHSL Queen."

"Ah, so you're the newly-crowned Queen of Krovakia…" I said.

"Indeed." Belle said, nodding, "While we are still a small nation, we still have quite a presence in the global trade market. Not only that, but our recent alliance with the neighboring nation of Novoselic has proven to be quite beneficial to both of our fair nations."

"I see…" I said, "Sounds like exciting stuff, being a Queen and all… You're like the youngest Queen to rule, aren't you?"

"Yes I am." Belle nodded, sighing, "Ever since the untimely assassination of my father and mother, I've had to rule the kingdom all on my own… I get lonely quite a bit, admittedly… But, as long as my people are happy under my rule, then that's reward enough…"

"Well, I suppose a job is a job, even if you're not happy with it…" I said, nodding.

Belle nodded.

"Well, we're gonna go meet some more Ultimates." I said, "It was nice to meet another Neko Girl fan like yourself, your highness."

"Likewise, Miss Manako." Belle said, smiling and curtsying.

The two of us then left Belle to her own devices before leaving the underground mall, since there appeared to be no more Ultimates there.

The final place we had left to go to was the Showroom.

The Showroom had a large stage in the back of it, with many tables and chairs set up in front of it, as well as a bar in one corner of it.

The stage had a microphone on a stand on it, with a bunch of stage lights on the edge of the stage, along with a few spotlights on the rafters above, and there was a backstage area that led to a corridor accessible from the showroom as well, to which led to the dressing rooms and the bathrooms.

"Wow, I'll admit…" Joey said, "The stage here is pretty impressive."

"Right?" I said, "You should've seen when Shakira performed here. Not only that, but quite a few magicians perform here as well."

"You mean like me?" a female voice called from nearby.

I looked to the stage, as did Joey, and before too long, we'd hear 'The Final Countdown' by Europe suddenly begin to play on full blast, and suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared on the stage, and from it, another Ultimate stepped out.

She was of South American descent, about seventeen in age, with light brown skin, long, straight silver hair with metallic purple highlights on the inside of it, purple eyes that were obviously colored contacts, a thin, but curvy body frame, of average height, and wore a metallic silver-blue lycra leotard with a bowtie, a metallic blue tuxedo petticoat covered in sequins, a pair of brown nylon stockings that reached to a bit above her knees and were connected to her leotard by garter belts, a pair of metallic silver opera gloves that went up to her elbows, a long, silvery-blue cape that went a little past her rear, a pair of metallic silver high-heels, silver lipstick, silver eyeshadow on her left eye with a silver crescent moon painted around her right eye with costume makeup.

And to top it all off, she had a metallic blue magician's top hat on her head that had a pair of white bunny ears on it, obviously as a decorative touch.

The girl chuckled, then said, "Hola, Lady and gentleman. So pleased to have such a lovely audience today!"

I blinked, then said, "… You mean us? We're really just here to kill time, honestly."

The girl chuckled again, then said, "Oh, Dio Mio, Bambino… You honestly haven't heard of me?"

"Not unless you're one of the Ultimates that got invited here…" I shrugged.

"Then allow me to educate you…" she said, smirking, "My name is Cecilia Vasquez, AKA 'Cecilia the Luminescent!'…. AKA, the SHSL Illusionist."

"So, what, like you do magic tricks as your talent?" Joey asked.

" _Illusions_ , Sir." Cecilia responded sharply, " _Tricks_ are something a whore does for money."

"That, and they're for kids…" Joey murmured, snickering.

I gave Joey a subtle nudge with my elbow.

"In any case…" Cecilia said, smirking, "It's quite good to make your acquaintances… That is… If you had given me your names as well…"

"Oh, right, uh…" I said, "I'm Manako Kumara, SHSL Idol, and this is Joey Kelso, SHSL Let's Player."

"Nice to meet you both." Cecilia said with a bow.

"Oh, give it a rest, will you?" Said a male's voice nearby.

We all looked and saw another young man that was probably an Ultimate that got invited here.

He was about 18 of age, slightly taller than Cecilia, with light skin, blue eyes, short black hair that was neatly parted, freckles, and wore a grey pinstripe suit that looked like it costed no less than $1,500, black dress shoes that looked very polished and pristine.

Basically, everything about this guy visually screamed pristine and political.

However, for once, I actually recognized this Ultimate.

"Oh!" I said, "I know you! You're that young prosecutor that won that police corruption court case two years ago."

"Ah, so you've hear of me." He mused, smirking, "That's good. Yes, it is true. I did prosecute a police corruption case two years ago… Apparently, some police officers in a precinct in Los Angeles were doing things they weren't supposed to… As such, it fell upon me to prove their guilt in court using strong, decisive evidence and decisive witness testimony. In the end, despite the very brief interference by Police Union representatives, which I had motioned to have successfully barred from the trial, I was able to get the very guilty verdict that got me my Ultimate Title."

He cleared his throat, then added, "The name's Franklin Costello, SHSL Prosecutor."

He handed me a business card with his name, the name of his law firm, and a number for said law firm, then added, "If you're ever in some legal dispute, do give me a call. I have special discounts for celebrity cases."

I looked the business card over.

"… So, you've heard of me, as well?" I asked.

"Of course." Franklin nodded, "Who hasn't heard of the Internet's most precious gem idol, Manako Kumara."

"You heard of me as well?" Joey asked.

"… No." Franklin answered flatly.

"… Oh…" Joey said, looking dejected.

"We're gonna get going." I said, "We still got Ultimates to meet."

Without another word, I pulled Joey along as we headed back to the second floor.

It would be here that I would see a familiar face leaning against the railing of the second-floor atrium walkway, looking at something on their phone.

She was about a year older than me, American, with very brown suntanned skin that suggested she spent a lot of time at the beach or in the sun, which I knew her to do so, a very curvy, tall, voluptuous body type, bright emerald green eyes that were wide and pretty, but currently hidden under a pair of oval-framed designer sunglasses, long blond hair that was wavy and curly and went past her shoulders and down her back and had hot pink, neon green, and bright cyan highlights on the tips and bangs of it, and wore a form-fitting black t-shirt with a graphic of a chibi bunny rabbit holding up a tray of cupcakes with brightly-colored frosting on them, a pair of tight-fitting faded blue jeans, a pair of pristine, white jogging sneakers, a few brightly-colored bangles worn around her wrists, and had a cute designer purse shaped like a chibi bunny head.

"You know her?" Joey asked me.

"Oh my gosh…" I said, then dashed over and hugged the girl from behind and exclaimed, "Sammy-Chan!"

"Well, if it isn't Manako-Chan!" the girl said, grinning as she turned around and hugged me as well.

We both kind jumped in place and emitted girlish squealing a moment before finally letting go of one another and engaging in actual conversation.

"So, are you here for the Seminar as well?" I asked the girl.

"Well, why wouldn't I be, Mana-Chan?" the girl asked, beaming, "I'm the SHSL Starlet, after all!"

"Oh my Gosh! Sam!" I whined, "You didn't tell me! I could've met up with you earlier!"

"Well, I was gonna text when I got to the hotel, but…" Sam said, trailing off.

"… Hm?" I said.

"… Never mind... I just lost track of time is all…" Sam said dismissively, "But at least I got to meet up with you here! How's Kai doing? My God, I feel like I hardly get to hang with you guys anymore, ever since I got cast for the Neko Sentai Girls live-action Netflix series-"

"Hold up!" I interrupted, "Are you telling me… That you… Samantha Cutler… The first friend I made when I moved to America and biggest inspiration… Is starring in a Netflix live-action series of literally my favorite anime and manga being retold in glorious HD live-action/CG… And you didn't bother to tell me?!"

"It was really hush-hush for a long time…" Sam sighed, "After such tragedies as the Death Note Live-action movie on Netflix, as well as the ill-fated Ghost in the Shell live-action movie, American production companies have been really hesitant to do live-action movies or shows based on popular anime… So, the production company I typically do movies and shows for, Studio Kitsu, which is a Japanese and American joint production company, and also has a headquarters in Tokyo, as well as a branch headquarters in Hollywood, decided to do a more tasteful live-action rendition of Neko Sentai Girls, hiring both American and Japanese-american actors and actresses, such as myself, who is playing the one American member of the Neko Sentai Team, Pink Puma/Vicky Brand."

"So, you're playing my favorite, eh?" I said, "I feel like I should ask; How does the suit fit you?"

"How do I put this…." Sam said, "… Picture squeezing your body into a tiny-assed rubber surgical glove every single day during the hottest spring in Los Angelos, then again inside a stuffy, hot Hollywood studio building, then once more during a hot spell in Uptown Shibuya in Tokyo… Admittedly, it was hard to maneuver in the costume at first, but once I got used to the tight latex material and stiff, hard plastic face mask, it almost became second-nature…. Only thing is that all throughout filming… The producers had me on a very strict diet… No cake, no ice cream, no burgers, no pizza, no chips, no junk food of any kind, not even a small Slurpee from the local 7-Eleven… I had to maintain a specific body weight at all times… Not only that, but I had to get suntanned even more than I already was… That's why I look like I lost a fight with a tanning booth…"

"What're you talking about?" I said, "You look great, Sam! You've never looked better in your life!"

"Well, thanks for saying that, Mana-Chan…" Sam said, then glanced at Joey and said, "And I take it Joesifurr himself has gotten an Ultimate title as well otherwise he wouldn't be here… Unless you're here to peddle your expensive gaming chair."

"I'll have you know it's a very high-quality gaming chair, ma'am." Joey defended, grinning, "Only $399 on the Joesifurr online merch store."

"Well, at least you're humble with your fame, Joey…" Sam said, chuckling.

"Freeze!" A female voice shouted at us, followed by the sound of a hammer on a handgun being pulled.

I was admittedly jumpscared by this, as was Joey and Sam, all three of staying completely still and not moving.

"Put your hands in the air…"

We obeyed, but…

Wait…

… I know that voice, too.

"… And wave them around like you just don't care."

I turned slowly to the girl, as did Sam and Joey.

The girl was about the same age as me, of Japanese descent, with fair skin, a thin, but athletic body frame, long black hair done in a ponytail that was tied up with a red ribbon, medium bust size, average height, and was wearing a police uniform typical of high-ranked Japanese Police officers, as well as having a holster on her belt to which a magnum revolver was clipped by a safety cord.

She also had an aluminum prosthetic leg in place of her left leg.

"Mariko!" I exclaimed, going over and hugging the police girl, as she holstered her revolver and hugged back, "You got invited too?"

"Yes ma'am." Mariko nodded, letting go of me and doing a military salute, "Mariko Saikawa, SHSL Police Chief, at your service!"

"I thought you had finally made it to the top." I nodded, "I remember you bragging about it on Facebook, saying that you were not only Tokyo's youngest police chief, but also the first-ever handicapped one."

"Well, I'll admit it wasn't easy to just get there…" Mariko admitted, "I had to work really hard to get there, even with my leg handicap… Still, despite it all, I'm pretty much the Top Cop in all of Tokyo."

"So, what got you the SHSL title, if I may ask?" Joey asked.

"Well, there was a case last year…" Mariko began, "A very high-profile one, at that, where a top-level Yakuza boss was being investigated for various charges, but despite it all, no charges could be brought to him, since he was so, for lack of a better term, 'Untouchable'… But, thankfully, with the aid of an undercover cop, as well as my spot-on perceptiveness and hard-working personality, we were able to get him for Tax evasion. Couldn't get the murder charges, but it was something we could use and take to trial. Regardless, he was found guilty and sentence to many years in prison."

"'Tax Evasion?'" Sam blinked, "Isn't that how they got Al Capone here in America?"

"Yeah, but it was all we could get him with…" Mariko sighed, "Couldn't be helped… He had a lot of people in the Justice department… People that were recently ousted due to their involvement with him. Three were just recently indicted, and one is currently being held without bail."

"Well, it's good to see you're well." I said, smiling, "I missed you so much, Mari-Ko."

"I missed you too, Mana-Chan." Mariko said, smiling as well.

"Well, isn't this some shit?" a male voice said from nearby.

I cringed when I heard it.

I knew that voice as well.

I turned to face the newcomer.

"…"

I said nothing, but simply looked at Nathan with a scrutinizing gaze.

He currently had on a black 'Go Army' t-shirt on underneath a tan tactical vest, a pair of tiger stripe camouflage fatigue pants, a pair of black combat boots, a single black fingerless glove on his left hand, and a military dog tag necklace around his neck, and also had a pair of aviator sunglasses clipped to his shirt collar. Not only that, but he also had a military bandana tied around his head.

"… Don't give me that look…" Nathan responded, "… You know what you did."

"Um, excuse me, Combat boy." Sam said with a huff, "I don't know how you know Mana-Chan, or if you know her well enough to talk to her like that, but I think if you're here to start trouble then you'd best keep walking."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, then smirked coyly, then said, "Heh… You really are as stupid as you look… Typical Valley Girl-assed Hollywood broads… It just so happens that I know Manako quite well… We attended the same grade school in Japan, after all."

"But… Aren't you American?" Joey asked, confused.

"Yeah, as were my parents…" Nathan responded coolly, "It's just that my parents were in the Military and had been assigned to a base over in Tokyo. Apparently, my old man was helpin' to train the Japanese General Self Defense Force some good old-fashioned American Military tactics."

He looked at Mariko briefly, who remained silent.

Mariko also seemed to be averting Nathan's gaze, too.

"… And then there's you…" Nathan said, "The Childhood friend… How's that leg treatin' ya? Did they give you special treatment just because you're handicapped? If so, that's pretty damn fucked up… Givin' a job that could be performed by someone with experience to someone younger just because they feel bad for her."

"Hey!" I snapped, getting up in Nathan's face, "… That's not an okay thing to say…"

Nathan looked through me, as I suddenly regretted saying that, knowing full well our history together.

"… Manako…" Nathan responded, glaring at me, "… You're in absolutely _no_ position to be telling me what's okay to say and what's not…"

I recoiled, shrinking back a little bit.

"… So, Manako…" Nathan said, smirking cruelly, "… when do you plan on telling your new friends of our history together?"

"I don't think Mana-Chan has to do shit, pal!" Sam hissed, glaring at Nathan, "Especially when it's some War-mongering Adrenaline junky telling her to do it!"

"… So, never, then?" Nathan asked, looking at me, "Is that it? You're gonna leave your new friends in the dark, then?"

"That's enough, Nathan." I said.

"I think your blonde Hollywood bimbo friend would love to hear about the real Manako Kumara." Nathan mocked.

"Stop it." I said firmly.

"Well, if you're not gonna tell them…" Nathan said, chuckling and smirking, "… Then maybe I'll go and tell them myself at the seminar… In fact… I bet the other Ultimates would adore you even more when they hear what I have to say about our history together…"

Without thinking, I grabbed Nathan's left wrist, but he jerked my hand away.

"… It's settled, then…" Nathan said, chuckling, "… I'm gonna tell everyone."

He then turned around and walked away from us.

"That's right, walk away, bitch!" Sam called after him, scowling at him.

"I'm confused…" Joey said, "… what's this guy even talking about?"

"… I wouldn't worry about him…" Mariko said finally, "He's just a muckraker… He just wants to spread around gossip that he picked up on from the Dark side of Reddit."

"… Mariko…" I said, giving Mariko a concerned look.

Mariko glanced at me, looking like she took the hint.

"… Me and Manako are gonna go and catch up somewhere…" she said to Joey and Sam, "… Alone… You guys don't mind, do you?"

"I don't mind…" Joey said, "I mean, I still don't know what that was about, but hey, y'know, you girls are friends."

"Any friend of Mana-Chan is a friend of mine, honey." Sam said, nodding and smiling.

I nodded, and Mariko and I went to the ice cream shop to discuss what was on our minds in private.

We seemed to be the only two at the place right now, so it would work out that no one would hear what we had to discuss.

As Mariko managed to sit down at a booth seat, I got us each a small ice cream sundae each, since this place was apparently self-serving, as was most of the eateries here.

"… Mariko…" I said finally, after a long moment of silence after I ha sat down, "… We… We can't ignore this, obviously…. We have to convince Nathan to not spill the beans himself…"

"… Manako…" Mariko said, a solemn look on her face, "… I can understand if you're comfortable where you are… But…"

She rubbed the back of her head.

"… You… Did kinda do and say some particularly nasty things to Nathan when we were kids…" she said, "He has a right to be upset."

"Yeah, but he doesn't have the right to tell people something that only I am allowed to bring up and tell…"

"But that's the thing…" Mariko said, "You _never_ have… For years, I've watched you gain fame and popularity and never once have you ever mentioned that you were a bully to anyone…"

"That's not true." I defended, "I told Kai."

"Okay, well, who else have you told besides him?" Mariko asked, "And I don't count because I just watched you do it all those years ago and chose to say nothing because we were friends… Out of the goodness of my heart and because of our friendship, I kept my mouth shut for years, and just watched as you blew up on the internet faster than a party balloon…"

"Well, shouldn't that be proof that I've changed?" I asked.

Mariko shook her head.

"… No…" she said, "… If I might be a little bold for saying this… It just proves that you're being vain and borderline opportunistic."

"Hey, I'm not opportunistic." I said, "I-"

"Then why haven't you come up front and just admitted to your fanbase that you were a bully yet?" Mariko asked.

"…"

I went silent at that.

Mariko gently put her hand on mine.

"Manako-San…" she said, giving me a reassuring look, "… We're friends… You can admit to me if you like your fame better than telling the truth…"

"…"

I pulled my hand away from Mariko's.

"… It's not like that and you know it."

"Then just come clean already!" Mariko said, raising her voice slightly, "By putting this off more and more you're just setting yourself up for a bigger fall! I mean, the most that could happen is you lose some fans or even get more fans for being honest. Either way, you're making this out to be like it's a bigger scandal than it really is. I mean, for God's sakes, Manako… Nathan… You remember what he almost did back then, right?"

I went silent at that.

"… He's lucky his dad caught him before he brought that handgun to school…" I murmured.

"No, Manako…" Mariko responded, looking right in my eyes, " _You're_ lucky his dad caught him… Then again…"

Mariko looked down.

"…. Maybe if he'd gone through with it… Who knows…?"

Hearing my childhood friend say that hit me harder than anything I'd ever been hit with, physically or emotionally.

"… Look…" Mariko said, "… when I started moving up the ranks in the police force… I… Took it upon myself to make sure those from grade school that knew about your misdeeds stayed quiet… You should at least be grateful for that… I wasn't proud of it… But I did it anyway because I'd hate to see you suffer as a result of some pretty nasty stuff about you getting out…"

"So, no one from school has talked?" I asked.

"Yes, Manako, no one from school has spoken up about how you bullied Nathan viciously!" Mariko responded sharply, sounding offended.

She also banged her fist on the table in anger as she said this.

She seethed a moment before finally calming down and saying, "… I'm surprised you kept in touch with me even after you left Japan… Especially after that nasty earthquake…"

"Hey…" I said, "I couldn't let my best friend recover from Amputee surgery on her own… That's why I basically took a hiatus from my career just to hang with you while you recovered and went through physical therapy."

Mariko was silent, but then smiled slightly.

"… Well, you were there for me quite a bit during that time…" she said, "Hell, your kindness is part of the reason I became a cop in the first place. I wanted to help people in the same way you do with your videos and stuff… It's… All I ever wanted…"

Mariko was silent, staring in a random direction.

"… It's all I ever wanted…" she repeated in a low murmur.

Just then, there was a chime over the intercom.

"A _ttention Hope's Peak Bright Future Seminar Attendees_!" said a cheery female voice over the hotel's intercom, _"It is now finally time for the first session of the seminar to begin! Please gather in Convention Hall A on the first floor."_

"… Well, I guess we oughta get going…" I said, getting up from my seat and throwing away our trash, before looking to Mariko and asking, "… You need help getting up? These seats are kinda tricky."

"I can handle it." Mariko answered, pulling herself up to her feet with a loud groan, "In fact, it gets easier with each passing day."

"We can take the elevator down if you want…" I offered.

"We kinda have to do that anyway, don't we?" Mariko pointed out, "There's really no escalators anywhere…. Which is weird considering this is a very well-known Resort Hotel…. You'd think it'd at least have one or two flights of Escalators…"

"Yeah, and come to think of it…" I added as well, "… I didn't even see an entrance to a parking garage of any kind here…"

I was thoughtful a moment, then said, "… Hey, Mariko?"

"Yeah, Manako-San?" Mariko asked.

I was silent a long moment.

Should I really bring up my memory loss with her?

And come to think of it…

It sounded like Sam had a similar experience as I did this morning and was about to bring it up before dismissing it…

I wonder if the other Ultimates had similar experiences of memory loss like that…?

"… Never mind…" I said dismissively, "C'mon, we should get going before we're late."

Mariko nodded, then followed me as I led the way to the convention hall specified in the announcement.

I made sure to walk at a pace that Mariko could follow at, even though I knew she could outrun me, prosthetic limb or no.

I could just be being unconsciously petty because she gave me a stern talking to earlier.

Anyways, we soon reached the convention hall, stepping through the double-doors.

The convention hall was a very big, wide-open room, and had twenty folding chairs set up in front of a large stage in the back of the room, where a microphone and a microphone stand was set up, along with a large projector screen on the back wall, to which a projector mounted on the ceiling could project things onto.

Sure enough, all Eighteen of the other Ultimates were gathered there.

"Oh, lookee here." George said, smirking, "Lil' miss Youtuber is friends with a copper, she is. A disabled Copper, at that."

"Listen, pal." Mariko said to him, "I don't care if you're a SHSL; if you try any of that Guy Ritchie movie bullshit on my turf in Tokyo, I'll take you down. After all…"

She smirked, then added, "… Wouldn't it make you look pathetic if you got busted by a cop with a prosthetic limb?"

"Listen you Jap cu-" George began, but Nathan interrupted and said, "Save it. Now that those two are here, we can address the elephant in the room, and I don't mean the thick-assed suntanned Hollywood broad."

"Hey!" Sam shouted, but Nathan continued with "That aside… Does anyone really remember how they got here? To this hotel? Like, does anyone genuinely remember arriving here and checking in?"

The entire group was silent, but I was surprised that Nathan was the one to bring this up and not the thing about me bullying him."

"… I don't really remember much, honestly…" Kelly said, shrugging.

"It is quite the conundrum indeed…" Johan mused.

"I don't really remember checking in either, to be honest…" Eleanor said, rubbing the back of her head.

"I was hoping to Facetime call my friend Sienna the minute I got here…" Danny said.

"I don't remember anything, either…" Belle said, frowning.

"This is... Scary..." Clarissa whimpered, frowning.

"…"

Yuri said nothing.

"… you, Ruski. You've been quiet." Nathan said to him, "You know something?"

"… I'm surprise the big, strong American Commando didn't notice this…" Yuri mused.

"Notice what?" Joey asked.

"… The lack of exits…" Yuri spoke, "This building his no extra entrances or exits… The only vay out of the building appears to be the front door… There isn't even any Fire Exits or Parking Garage access doors…"

"There's also no escalators or extra stairwells…" I pointed out, "Me and Mariko-San had to take the one elevator in the building."

"So, what're you thinking?" Franklin asked.

"… I'm thinking there's more to this Seminar that the adults in charge aren't telling us." Nathan answered.

"Welcome~"

A cheery female voice rang out through the microphone's PA system on the stage.

There, standing in front of the microphone, was a young Japanese-American woman who looked to be in her late 20's, early 30's.

She was pretty tall, probably came up to Eleanor's chin in terms of height, she had fair skin, long black hair that was done in a neat bun, brown eyes, a curvy, voluptuous body frame, a large bust, and wore an uniform similar to that of which a tour guide would wear.

"Finally, some bloody adults…" George murmured.

"Konichiwa, fellow Ultimates!" the woman greeted with a bow, "On behalf of everyone at Hope's Peak, I'd like to welcome you to the first-ever Hope's Peak Bright Future Seminar! I am your hostess for the event, Miss Usagi Komaru, SHSL Hostess, Graduated."

"'SHSL Hostess?'" Danny asked, "That's a pretty specific talent, isn't it?"

"True…" Usagi said, smiling, "But aren't a lot of SHSL talents rather specific?"

"Well, ya got me there…" Danny shrugged.

"Anyways…" Usagi said, beaming, "Let's get right to it, shall we?"

She cleared her throat, then said, "Now, as for-"

"Oh, shut up, will ya?" a cutsey-sounding voice called from nearby, "None of these kids care about that despair-inducing trash, anyway?"

Usagi went silent, gaining a wide-eyed expression, as if she recognized the voice.

"… Oh no…" she murmured.

Just then, from nowhere, a dual-colored white and black Teddy bear popped up out of the stage.

The eye on the white side of his body was very cutesy and typical of a regular teddy bear, while the one on the black side of it's body was bright red and demonic-looking.

"Awwww, it's a Teddy bear!" Liza gasped.

"What the _actual fuck_?" Kelly said.

"Is this a prank?" Joey asked, "Like, is Ethan Bradbury gonna come out from backstage with a camera and yell 'Slamming!' while spitting out a bite of donut in our faces?"

"If this is a joke, then it's not a very funny one." Franklin said coolly, "In fact, I have half the mind to sue the organizers of this event for fraud."

Mariko was dangerously silent.

I, on the other hand, couldn't help but have a sense of familiarity wash over me at the sight of this strange newcomer…

… Almost like I had seen something like this before…

… Which seemed crazy, considering this was very new to me…

… Well, that's not entirely true.

I mean, I did kinda coax Kai into playing Five Nights at Freddy's with me one Halloween night.

"Upupupupupu, this ain't no prank, kid!" the teddy bear said, "This's the real deal!"

"Students, get back!" Usagi shouted to us, closing the gap between the bear and us, "Don't let appearances deceive you… This bear is the perfect example of 'Don't judge a book by its cover'."

"So, what, it's an animatronic character?" Cecilia asked, "'Cause I've worked with those before."

"Oh God, I hope not…" Joey said, shuddering, "I got enough of that with all my let's plays of the Five Nights at Freddy's games…"

"Hmph… You kids and your video games…" the bear huffed, "I'm way more despair-inducing than some dumb Chucky Cheese's ripoff!"

The bear laughed, then proclaimed, "The name's Monokuma! And I… Am your Master of Ceremonies for this event!"

"Enough of this!" Usagi shouted, then crossed her arms over her chest and shouted, "Sentai Hero Transform!"

She spread her arms out wide, then shouted, "WE ARE HOPE HEROES!"

In a stunning flash of light, she underwent a very stereotypical Sentai hero transformation, pretty similar along the lines of something like in Power Rangers or VR Troopers.

Honestly, I had no idea what was going on, anymore…

Anyways, Usagi gained a very hot pink bunny-themed Sentai hero suit, consisting of a hot pink spandex suit with silver bunny-themed markings on it, a bunny-themed hero helmet consisting of only a helmet and a visor, a silver belt, silver boots, and silver gloves.

She struck a few anime Sentai poses, then shouted, "I am… Hope Hero! Protector of Hope's Peak!"

"What's even going on anymore?!" Liza exclaimed.

"I dunno…" Eleanor said, "… But I feel like I should be takin' notes for my next match!"

Without thinking, I got out my video camcorder and began filming.

I… Felt like people outside this place needed to know what was happening…

Usagi pulled out some kind of golden sword hilt, then pressed a button on it, making a laser sword blade deploy from it.

"With my lightning plasma sword of Hope…" Usagi said, pointing her sword at Monokuma, "… I will smite you in the name of justice!"

"So awesome!" Kelly exclaimed, her eyes wide with amazement.

"It's just like in Neko Sentai Girls!" Belle said, squealing with excitement.

"Upupupu… You're askin' for a hiney-whoopin' Toots." Monokuma chuckled, his red eye glinting.

Suddenly, Monokuma had a black cloak on and was holding a lightsaber that looked almost exactly like the one Kilo Ren was waving around in The Force Awakens.

"… No…" Joey said, his eyes wide, "… It can't be… He can't…"

Monokuma's red eye glinted, and he deployed the blade of his lightsaber, making a bright red longsword-like lightsaber blade deploy from it.

"NO!" Joey shouted, "He… He's a Sith Lord!"

"No, he's not…" Franklin huffed, "… But I do look forward to representing Mr. Lucas when he sues this abomination for copyright infringement."

Suddenly, Duel of Fates began playing in the background via the stage's stereo system.

"… And, there it is…" Franklin sighed, "I'll be sure to give Mr. George Lucas a call after this is over and done with."

It was then that Usagi and Monokuma began clashing blades in a very flashy, over the top, Star Wars-Esque fashion.

Despite this, I kept filming, silently cheering on Usagi.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Mariko discreetly drawing her police revolver and quietly, slowly pulling the hammer on it, subtly holding it at the ready.

I kept an eye on her in my peripherals as I filmed this spectacle.

At one point, Usagi managed to strike a major blow on Monokuma, knocking his lightsaber out of his hand.

"It's over, Despair…" Usagi said, pointing her sword at Monokuma, "You… Have lost."

Monokuma's red eye glinted.

"… No…" he said, "… No, no… _You_ will die!"

He suddenly pulled out and deployed a collapsible baton with a lightsaber-shaped handle and struck Usagi's left knee with it, knocking her off her feet.

"Oh, shit!" Joey shouted, wincing.

"Crikey!" Alice exclaimed.

"Hmph… As expected…" George shrugged.

"Such dishonor…" Hana growled, scowling and clenching her fists, "Has he no shame?"

"At this point, lass, I think all bets are off…" Martin mused.

"So horrible!" Clarissa exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

Usagi cried out in pain as Monokuma continued to pummel her with the baton.

"Looks like someone needs to get a makeover…" Monokuma said, pushing the baton back into it's handle, his red eye glinting, as he briefly red Usagi's nametag, which was still visible on her Sentai suit, "… So, your name is Usagi, is it? Well, if you're named Bunny, then you may as well look like one!"

Monokuma then pounced on Usagi, causing a cartoonish smoke cloud to appear over the two as the scuffle broke out.

When the cloud cleared, Usagi was dressed in a playboy bunny outfit consisting of a white and black dual-toned vinyl leotard, black pantyhose, a pair of white and black high heels, a pair of white and black tuxedo cuff bracelets, a white and black tuxedo bowtie collar with some kind of strange device on it and appeared to fit around Usagi's neck very tightly, and a white bunny ear headband.

"Eh?!" Usagi exclaimed, looking at her new outfit.

"Don't bother takin' it off, toots." Monokuma said, "The costume's glued onto your body!"

"How's she gonna use the bathroom?" Joey whispered to Sam.

"Really? That's the question you're asking?" Sam whispered back to him sarcastically.

"Now then…" Monokuma said, turning to the crowd, "You're all probably wondering why I gathered you all here… The answer is simple… You're here to-"

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet hole appeared on Monokuma's forehead.

Several more gunshots rang out soon after, as more bullet holes appeared on the demented teddy bear, knocking him over.

Mariko, standing in front of the stage, seethed a bit as she still had her police revolver trained on Monokuma's still form.

She then quickly reloaded it, then turned to everyone and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"Certainly not you…" Monokuma's voice echoed from nearby.

"!"

Mariko glanced at the stage, wide-eyed with fright.

Sure enough, Monokuma was standing there once again, leaning against the microphone stand in a very Bugs Bunny fashion.

Instinctively, Mariko aimed her revolver at Monokuma again.

However, Monokuma beat her to the punch and quickly deployed a collapsible baton.

" _Collapsable Baton Attack Number 187_!" Monokuma shouted, before knocking the baton into Mariko's prosthetic leg, knocking it off her stump and knocking her onto her rear.

The demented teddy bear then hit Mariko a few times with the baton before tossing it aside, then jumping back onto the stage.

"Looks like we got ourselves a volunteer as tribute…" he said, his red eye glinting as a large red button on a pedestal rose out of the stage in front of him, "Nonetheless… It's punishment time!"

A judge's gavel was summoned into his hand and he banged it on the button.

The projector screen then turned on, displaying an 8-bit image of Mariko standing with Monokuma casually walking by her and grabbing her.

A caption above the video read as follows…

 _Mariko Saikawa has been found guilty! Commencing punishment!_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 ** _Punishment Time: I Saw what you did there!_**

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 ** _Mariko managed to use the stage as leverage to pull herself up to her one good foot._**

 ** _Suddenly, a chain shot out of a door to the right of the stage and clasped around Mariko's Neck, pulling her past all the other Ultimates into another room._**

 ** _Before she knew it, she was tied to a chair in a simple, four-wall room with only one door and a TV set up on a table in front of her._**

 ** _Mariko squirmed and struggled to no avail._**

 ** _Suddenly, the TV turned on, and a marionette version of Monokuma was shown on the TV._**

 ** _"Konichiwa, Mariko-Chan…" the puppet Monokuma said, "… I want to play a little game with you…"_**

 ** _Mariko went wide-eyed but sat still._**

 ** _"As you can see…" PuppetKuma said, "You are tied to a chair by way of a tough leather clasp and a strand of duct tape… by the door, you will see a replacement prosthetic limb… And… Not only that… But right now, you are breathing in a highly-deadly, odorless, tasteless nerve gas, which is filling the room at a fast rate… You have exactly five minutes to free yourself and escape this room… This is your game, Mari-Ko… Do… Or die… Upupupupupupupu!"_**

 ** _The TV then turned out, as Mariko began squirming more frantically in her bonds._**

 ** _With effort, she managed to lean forward and chew through the tape binding her right hand to the chair._**

 ** _However, she found that the leather clasp wasn't coming off anytime soon._**

 ** _"D-dammit…" Mariko murmured, growling as her right hand dangled off the chair a moment._**

 ** _She suddenly felt a handle of something resting against the side of the chair._**

 ** _She pulled the object into her vision and gasped._**

 ** _It was a medical bone saw, used for amputating limbs, marked with Monokuma's insignia._**

 ** _Mariko trembled, then began sobbing as she raised the saw and put it to her left wrist._**

 ** _She took a few shaky, deep breaths, then began the long, painful process of amputating her left forearm._**

 ** _She emitted a short shriek as the blade cut through her flesh the first swing, then grit her teeth and began biting her lip hard as she continued to saw through her elbow, finally hearing that painful crunch as the saw began to cut through the bone and cartilage._**

 ** _Tears streamed down her cheeks as she eventually cut through her elbow all the way, amputating her left arm off fully._**

 ** _She dropped the hammer, then began sobbing uncontrollably as she stood on her one good leg, then began hopping towards the prosthetic leg at the door as quickly as she could, despite being slightly off-balance from the loss of her arm._**

 ** _Once she had secured the limb to her leg stump, she reached for the doorknob…_**

 ** _… Only to find there was no knob on the door._**

 ** _"… What?" Mariko said aloud._**

 ** _She then spotted a note written on the door, reading it aloud._**

 ** _"… 'Look… At the left wall…'" she read, then looked at the left wall._**

 ** _She saw another note written on it, reading it aloud, too…_**

 ** _"… 'Look at the Right wall…" she read aloud, doing just that._**

 ** _Another note._**

 ** _"… 'Look at the Floor…'"_**

 ** _She looked at the floor._**

 ** _"… 'Look at the ceiling…'"_**

 ** _She looked at the ceiling._**

 ** _"… 'Look behind you…'"_**

 ** _A wave of fear washed over her as she slowly turned towards the wall behind her._**

 ** _"!"_**

 ** _She went wide-eyed as she saw what was behind her._**

 ** _A bunch of automatic assault rifles hooked to mechanical holders programmed to pull the trigger and fire on their own were fixed to the wall, and in the middle of the wall of rifles was a large piece of paper with a poorly-drawn picture of an upside-down Okay hand sign with the words 'Got Eem!' written under it._**

 ** _"… What the fu-"_**

 ** _The rifles all began firing at once, spraying a literal wall of bullets that punctured every part of Mariko, making her look like swiss cheese._**

 ** _Finally, a .50 caliber sniper rifle barrel slid out of an opening in the wall._**

 ** _Through the opening, Mariko could see Monokuma, clad in urban camouflage, a tactical vest, a skull cap, and a communications headset, looking through the scope of the rifle at Mariko._**

 ** _A loud shot rang out as Monokuma fired the rifle at Mariko's chest, knocking her back onto the door, which opened into the stage on the Convention hall._**

 ** _Monokuma then set the sniper rifle down, then put a cigar in his mouth and lit it._**

 ** _Wasted!_**

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"!"

I gasped loudly when I saw Mariko's bloodied, bullet-ridden body fall out through the door onto the stage, having watched the execution by way of the projector screen just now.

Without thinking, I ran to Mariko's side, leaning by her still form as I held her in my arms.

"Mariko, no…" I cried, "Please, no… Stay with me…"

"… Ngh… Manako…" Mariko grunted, looking up at me.

She pulled me closer, then whispered her final words into my ear.

"… Remember… To… Hope… When… The time… Is… Right… He… Is the key… Find him… Please…"

Mariko's eyes glossed over as her gaze became dead-looking, her breathing ceasing as she passed.

"… Mariko…" I said, tears coming to my eyes, "… Mariko, no… God no… Please… No…."

I let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream as I began sobbing uncontrollably, sobbing into Mariko's dead corpse.

"Let that be an example to all of you of what happens to those who break rule number 5 of this seminar!" Monokuma proclaimed, "Speaking of which, since this fic canonically takes place in the year 2016, we had the liberty of installing the Student handbook onto your phones! Consider it a step up from those clunky old 2010-era Student handbooks, all in a convenient app!"

I glared at Monokuma, tears in my eyes.

"You bastard!" I screamed, about to charge at Monokuma when Nathan suddenly came forward and held me back.

"Calm down." Nathan warned, holding me back.

"But he killed her!" I screeched, "He murdered my best friend, goddammit!"

"He'll kill you too if you hit him…" Nathan warned.

"But I-" I began, but Nathan then bellowed at me, " **YOU WANNA FUCKING DIE**?!"

"…"

I went silent, sniffling, but remained still.

"… I thought not…" Nathan responded, letting go of me.

"Your soldier friend is right, lady." Monokuma said, "violence against me is a big mistake. Let your piggy friend's demise be a reminder of that."

"Mister Monokuma?" Liza said, coming over to the demented bear, "… I… I was looking at the rules on the Student Handbook app… And… I was wondering about this rule…"

She pointed to a rule marked 'Rule 6'

"Oh, that's an easy one, kid." Monokuma said with a chuckle, "Basically, in order to leave this place, ya have to kill someone!"

"!"

Liza gasped, her eyes wide with fright.

"… Seriously? That's all it takes?" George asked, then smirked and added, "Well, then, this's gonna be an easy job, innit?"

"Easy there, Limey." Monokuma warned, "I forgot to add reiterate a part of Rule 5 that I just reworked in light of Saikawa's act of police brutality against me."

Out of morbid curiosity, I checked the 'Monokuma Manual App' on my phone, selecting the 'Rules' menu on the app.

Rule 5 now currently read:

 **Rule #5: Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras. In addition, outside weapons are hereby prohibited on the grounds of the seminar.**

Monokuma handed a bag to Usagi, then said, "Yo, UsagiKuma. Confiscate any weapons these bastards have on them."

Usagi sighed sadly.

"… H-hai… Monokuma-Sama…" she said, before going up to the members of this class that actually had weapons.

She went to George first, who shrugged, then put his semi-automatic .50 caliber handgun into the bag and said, "You're a real sellout, sunshine. Y'know that?"

"… Gomen…" Usagi murmured, then going over to Nathan, who shrugged, then reached behind him and put a compact Colt pistol into the bag, as well as a folding combat knife.

Usagi then went over to Kelly next, who reached into her left rollerskate boot and put a folding butterfly knife into the bag.

Next was Yuri.

Usagi came over to Yuri, who shrugged, then reached under his coat and got out a suppressed .40 caliber handgun, discharged the magazine, pulled back the slide, then placed that in the bag, then got out a folding machine pistol, discharged the magazine, then put it in the bag, then got out a compact Glock pistol, discharged the magazine, put it in the bag, then got out a hand grenade of some kind, then put that in the bag while being careful that the pin didn't accidentally pull, then took a strap off his left thigh that had a bunch of throwing knives on it and put that in the bag, then got out a suppressed .22 caliber pistol, discharged the magazine, then-

"Um…" Usagi said, shuffling a bit, "… If you don't mind me asking… How many weapons do you actually have on you?"

Yuri looked through Usagi with a stoic expression, causing her to recoil.

He then smirked coyly, then said, "… Do you vish to search me, yourself?"

"Don't bother with her, Commie." Monokuma called over, "UsagiKuma's actually an android, so she ain't got no goods."

"Wait, she's a robot?" Joey asked.

Usagi nodded.

"Hai…" she said, looking down, "I… Was created by a very brilliant scientist… and I'm told my appearance was based on that of his daughter…"

"Yeah, yeah, tragic backstory this, whatever." Monokuma said dismissively, "Just hurry up with confiscating the weapons."

Usagi sighed, then went over to Hana next.

Hana eyed Usagi, then unsheathed one of her swords, then showed her a certain tag on the blade of the sword.

"… 'Made in Taiwan?'" Usagi repeated, blinking.

"… My swords are…" Hana admitted, looking slightly ashamed, "… Merely cosplay props… They couldn't even cut through a stick of butter…"

"I see…" Usagi said, the glanced at Monokuma and asked, "Monokuma-Sama, is there a rule against prop weapons?"

"As long as it can't physically hurt anyone, then I'll allow it." Monokuma responded, waving dismissively.

Usagi sighed, then left Hana alone before bringing the bag over to Monokuma.

"Right then." Monokuma said, his red eye glinting, "I'll let you bastards look over the rules yourself. I'm sure you'll be Beary impressed by the level of detail we put into this killing game!"

Monokuma then disappeared, as did Usagi.

"Well, shit…" Kelly shrugged, "This kinda sucks."

"Yeah…" Joey said, looking down, "… To think that someone could die from a meme… A very unfunny meme, at that."

"I don't get it…" Belle blinked, "Is that an American thing?"

"Google the 'Circle Game' meme when you get a chance." Joey said to Belle, "It's not really a funny meme in the least, but people do it anyway…"

"You fuckin' yanks…" George shrugged.

"Why, you more of a Red Sox fan?" Daniel remarked.

"More like Redcoats." George responded.

I looked at Mariko's dead corpse, sniffling as tears threatened to overtake my eyes again.

"Oh, what're you fuckin' cryin' about?" George said to me suddenly, "You cryin' about your Crippled Pig friend?"

"Shut up!" I shouted at him without thinking.

"Just face facts, Scarlet." George responded, "Your friend died because she was too weak to survive in this situation. She acted on nothing more than years of training that she probably got a pass for almost immediately because of her crippled leg-"

Without thinking, I smacked George across the face… Hard.

So hard, it knocked him to the floor.

"Holy hell!" Joey exclaimed, in shock.

I seethed as I glared at George.

The SHSL Bank Robber touched a few fingers to his lip, which appeared to be lightly bleeding.

"… Well, then…" he mused, standing, "… I knew there was something about you that really pissed me off…"

Suddenly, he punched me in the stomach hard enough to not only knock the wind out of me, but also cause me to vomit on the floor a bit as I crumpled to the floor.

I then felt George begin to punch and kick me while I was laying on the floor, reeling from that initial hit.

"Fuckin' Jap cunt!" George shouted as he continued to attack me, "Need to learn some fuckin' manners you little bitch!"

"That's enough!" Eleanor shouted, pulling George off of me, "Hey! I said that's enough, pal!"

"She fuckin' started it, you beastly-looking shemale!" George shouted.

"Well, I'm finishing it." Nathan responded, going over to me and leaning beside me, "Hey, you alright?"

As he began to help me back up, he subtly pulled my ear close, then whispered to me.

"It seems you lucked out…" he whispered, "I was gonna tell everyone your dirty little secret during the seminar session tonight, but that clearly didn't happen… But, you're not off the hook just because your disabled little enabler friend was killed… Oh no… I'm still gonna tell everyone… Your friend just managed to buy you a little more time… Even if she had to eat a few bullets to do so… You should consider yourself lucky…"

I looked up at Nathan's cruel gaze, which then softened into a concerned one as he pulled me to my feet for real, then said, "Hey, look, it's gonna be alright… You don't look too beat up…"

I turned my gaze away from Nathan.

"I think we've all had enough excitement for tonight…" Nathan said to the group, "I think we should all go back to our rooms, turn in for the night, and figure this shit out tomorrow morning with fresh minds and 8 hours of sleep under our belts."

"That's easy for you to say, GI Stupid…" Sam snarled, " _You_ didn't lose your best friend today…"

With that, the group all departed, as I left the group as well, although my gaze kept gravitating to Mariko's dead, bloodied corpse on the stage even as I left the convention hall.

I was the last to take the elevator up.

As such, I was also the last to make it to my room, unlocking the door with my card key, then entering my room.

Once there, I turned off my camera, realizing I still had it running, then plugged it in to charge.

After I did that, I sat on my bed, remaining silent and still as I trembled a little bit.

Finally, I once again broke out into loud, uncontrollable sobbing.

I buried my face into one of my pillows and began screaming into it loudly.

I screamed again and again and again into my pillow, eventually breaking down into more sobbing.

After what seemed like an hour of sobbing and screaming, I finally finished, laying on my bed in a daze.

I was so proud when I got invited to this seminar…

But now…

Screw Hope's Peak.

Screw the Seminar.

Screw Monokuma.

I… Just lost my best friend…

It's not like this is a game and I can load a different save file and do things differently.

I have to live with this new fact now…

Mariko was dead and I could never bring her back.

Never…

NEVER!

 _End of Chapter one…_

 _\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_

 _Okay, so I covered a lot in this chapter, and the reason being is that I wanted to get right into it as soon as possible, since Beninja2618 sorta paced the introductions into to parts and did the reveal portion separate, so I did one better and combined all of it into one big superchapter._

 _Fun fact: this actually took me two and a half weeks to write in full, and that's mostly because of work and other engagements (I'm still reeling from the revelation that Steam re-released the first three Army Men games and Army Men RTS on Steam last December without me knowing. DX )._

 _Also, as before, try and see if you can spot all the references in this chapter. Especially considered I referenced a_ _very_ _unfunny meme in the Execution in this chapter._

 _With that, I leave you all with this very fruitful chapter._

 _See you guys, next time._

 _*Climbs into closet above computer chair PewDiePie-Style*_


	3. Chapter 1: Ignorance is bliss

" _I feel like Doki Doki Literature Club is a true work of art. After all, a good game leaves you guessing all throughout the story. A masterpiece does it right in the Steam store page." -Weapon X Foxfurry_

 **1 student dead**

 **19 students remaining**

 **Chapter one Daily Life**

 **Part One:**

 **Ignorance is Bliss**

The next morning, I woke up in a bit of a haze, still very much grieving about my best friend dying.

It seemed so unreal…

This whole thing seemed unreal…

But the reality of the matter was clear.

Mariko was dead, and I was stuck in some sick killing game.

I turned to my side to look at my alarm clock…

… Only to have it go off and play the same radio station from yesterday.

" _Gooooood morning Despair!"_ said the same Radio DJ as before, just with a more Monokuma-themed dialogue choice, " _This's your boy Papa Bear bringing you the best hits from the past to provide your mutual game of Killing an awesome soundtrack! This next song was featured in the movie Mystery Men back in the 1990's, but was popularized by the classic animated family film Shrek in the early 2000's. This is All Star by Smash Mouth!"_

With that, the iconic song All Star by Smash Mouth began playing on the radio.

I cringed like I never cringed before.

Regardless, I got up out of bed, showered, then got dressed.

My outfit for today consisted of a frilly pink ruffled halter top, a pair of pastel blue capris, a pair of black leggings, and a pair of high-heeled strapped sandals.

I didn't bother taking a selfie of my outfit.

I was too out of it to do so.

So…

I got out my laptop, booted it up…

… Then brandished my webcam.

I turned on my video recording software, making sure that I had the webcam focused properly, then once I made the last-minute preparations, I began to record.

"… Hey MoonFans…" I said into the camera, without as much enthusiasm and positivity as I typically did, but with a more serious tone, "… I… Don't know if this Vlog or any further vlogs will reach you all, nor do I know if I will be able to keep this recording… But I feel like I need to make this recording… that you all need to know what is happening here…"

I paused a moment, gripping my left arm.

"… Me and the other Ultimates are trapped in some sick killing game like in The Hunger Games or something and are being forced to kill one another in order to escape… And not only that, but my best friend in the world, one you guys know as Saikawa Mariko… Was executed as an example… She was killed by the one keeping us here… I recorded footage of the execution, but… I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be YouTube-friendly, so I'd have to not monetize this video for sure-"

"Gotta love that new YouTube, huh?" a familiar voice chirped.

Sure enough, Monokuma appeared right beside me on the couch, making me jump a bit.

"What the hell?!" I shouted, despite myself, "What are you doing here?!"

"The better question is what are _you_ doing?" Monokuma asked, tilting his head as he looked my laptop over.

"What is this even?" he asked, standing right in front of the webcam camera view, "Is this like a white people thing?"

"I'm vlogging, I'll have you know!" I shouted, annoyed.

"Vlogging, eh?" Monokuma mused, "Well, good luck uploading while there's a signal jammer in effect in this building!"

"'Signal Jammer?'" I repeated, getting out my phone and trying to access twitter on it.

Sure enough, I got the familiar 'Safari couldn't load this page' screen on my phone.

"Buuuuuuut…" Monokuma said, his red eye glinting, "Since I think you're a beary trustworthy person, I'll allow you to use your 'vlogging' as a personal video log of your time in this killing seminar."

"Well, don't I feel special…" I muttered sarcastically.

"Hey! None of the sass, lady!" Monokuma shouted, baring his claws, "I'm being nice to you! You should feel honored!"

I sighed, then leaned back in my seat.

"Anyways…" Monokuma said, "The real reason I came here is on business."

He cleared his throat, then said, "There's a traitor among your group."

I sat back up as my interest piqued.

"… Come again?" I asked.

"Yup!" Monokuma said, "There's a traitor among your group that is secretly working for Despair!"

"… I see…" I said, unsure what to make of this new information.

"I'll leave it up to you to figure out who the traitor is, toots." Monokuma said, laughing as he then disappeared in his typical fashion.

I blinked, then glanced at my laptop, which was still recording footage.

I then stopped recording, saved the video file, then closed up my laptop.

After all that, I retrieved my room key, then exited my room.

The minute I exited my room, I'd see Sam there, looking as if she was gonna knock on my door.

"Yo." Sam said, "Everyone's in the buffet restaurant. Apparently, it serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Well, at least we know our captors are feeding us…" I said halfheartedly.

"Hey…" Sam said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "… We'll get through this. I promise. Whatever this Monokuma guy puts in front of us, we'll beat it."

"I know…" I said, "It's just… Mariko didn't need to die… Not like that…"

"She did kinda break the rules…" Sam pointed out.

"But she didn't know about them!" I said, "She was just following her police instincts!"

"That is true…" Sam said, sighing, "… I guess maybe she couldn'tve known about the rules before they were given to us… And Monokuma took advantage of that…"

After a moment's silence, Sam then gestured for me to follow her, then said, "C'mon. Let's go have breakfast."

I sighed, then followed her, taking the elevator to the second floor.

When we got there, however, we'd see that the swimming pool and the rental shop were both closed off for some reason.

Not only that, but when we went past the third floor in the glass elevator, we saw that literally everything on the third floor was closed off as well.

"Well, I guess we're not going for a swim anytime soon…" Sam shrugged as we passed the way to the pool and went to the buffet restaurant.

Once there, we'd see everyone had gathered there, pretty much helping themselves to various breakfast foods that lined the buffet serving tables in the restaurant.

There were also many long tables in the restaurant, similar to that of the ones in school cafeterias, with chairs pulled up to them.

We both grabbed plates and began to scour the buffet tables for what we would have for breakfast.

Sam immediately went for the pancakes table, and I followed her.

She began piling her plate with pancakes, syrup, whipped topping, strawberries, and chocolate syrup.

"What about your diet?" I asked, deadpanning.

"Oh, I can burn it off easily." Sam reassuring, waving dismissively, "It's no trouble for me, especially when I always went for a morning jog after breakfast back in LA."

"Yeah, but…" I said, "Sam, that's a lot of calories you just piled onto your plate… You're gonna blow up like Violet Beaurgarde from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory if you're not careful."

"Trust me, Monako-Chan…" Sam said, grinning, "I have a trusted system of remaining thin and fit."

I sighed, then said, "Well, if you say so…"

I decided to play it safe and got a plate of fried egg whites, a toasted bagel with cream cheese, turkey sausage, and apple slices, as well as a glass of orange juice.

I took my seat at a table beside Sam, who immediately began chowing down even before I sat next to her.

Clarissa had chosen to sit at our table as well, clad in her 'land outfit' which consisted of a form-fitting sky blue lycra tanktop that showed off her midriff, a pair of sea green wetsuit pants, and a pair of sky blue flip flops.

She had gotten a plate of two glazed chocolate frosted donuts, an orange, and an apple fritter, with a pint bottle of whole milk.

She was also joined by Joey, who had gotten a bunch of donuts of various kinds, two apple fritters, a few bags of candied apple slices, and a bottle of cranberry juice.

"So, did you guys know we had Wi-Fi here?" Joey asked.

"I thought there was a signal jammer?" I said.

"How did you know that?" Joey asked, but before I could reply, he quickly said, "Nevermind. It probably doesn't matter. Anyways, apparently Monokuma left us a slip of paper in our rooms by our desks in said rooms with a code for the 'Monokuma-Approved Wi-Fi Service'. It's completely free and complimentary, with a few trade-offs."

"'Trade-offs?'" I asked.

"To start with, we can't access social media websites…" Joey began, "Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, the like; they're all blocked by the Wi-Fi service provider. However, YouTube, Steam, Origin, Nexon Launcher, Wargaming, and League of Legends Launcher are all accessible, but we can't post comments or engage in type chat or mic chat. Skype and facetime are also blocked, but that's probably moreso due to the signal jammer you mentioned. Speaking of, we can't send outgoing email or text messages, nor can we make outgoing phone calls, so there's that."

"Great…" I said, shrugging, "So much for calling for help…"

"N-no offense, Manako…" Clarissa stammered, "… But what could anyone really do to stop Monokuma? I-I mean… You saw what happened to Mariko…"

I looked down and away at the mention of Mariko's death.

Clarissa saw this, then gained a fearful expression.

"S-Sorry!" she apologized, "I… I didn't mean to bring up bad feelings!"

"It's alright…" I told her, "I'll get over it at my own pace…"

"Well, I figure as long as I can play League of Legends or World of Tanks, then I'm good." Joey said.

"Good to know you have your priorities in order." Sam said, deadpanning after having finished her plate of food.

"You're finished already?" I asked, genuinely shocked.

"Yup." Sam said, breathing a content sigh, then suddenly said, "I gotta go use the bathroom for a minute. I'll be right back."

Without another word, Sam got up, then left the restaurant.

"Why wouldn't she use the bathroom right after waking up?" Joey asked, "That's what I do."

"Maybe she holds it in…" Clarissa suggested.

"Isn't that unhealthy?" I asked.

Clarissa nodded, looking down, seeming to stare in a random direction.

Before too long, I managed to finish breakfast, and right as I was putting away mine and Sam's dirty dishes, Sam had returned.

"Sorry, sorry!" she apologized, "I took a lot longer than I expected."

"You were gone for like three minutes…" I said, "what were you even doing in there?"

"I'd rather not say in mixed company…" Sam said, gesturing to Joey and Clarissa.

I sighed, then decided to walk around the hotel, seeing that I had some free time.

 **FREE TIME, START!**

I decided to head to the fitness center first, thinking I could go work off the breakfast I just ate.

Once there, I saw Daniel over by the Hockey slapshot area, a hand towel around his neck as he was sipping a bottle of fruit punch Gatorade.

I decided I would spend some time getting to know Daniel, so I approached him.

He glanced at me, then said, "Oh, hey, Manako! What brings you here?"

"Oh, just walking around, really…" I said, "… you wanna hang out anywhere?"

"Sure!" Daniel said, "I was thinking we could go by the ice cream shop/lunch counter for a quick milkshake or two."

"That sound good." I said, smiling, "Lead the way."

With that, Daniel led me to the ice cream shop in question, and we got ourselves some milkshakes, Daniel getting a chocolate peanut butter milkshake, and me getting a cookies and cream milkshake.

"So, you mentioned being friends with the esteemed figure skater Sienna Donnely…" I said.

"Yup." Daniel said, "Her and I go way back… We met one day when she was practicing skating at this frozen pond that I sometimes practice slapshots at. Since then, we'd been really good friends…"

Daniel gently stirred his milkshake a moment, then gained a more somber expression.

"… the thing is, though…" he said, "… Sienna's dad… Abuses her and her mother consistently… And as such, sometimes whenever I saw her at the community center back in Deerbourne, she sometimes had bruises or a bloody nose… I confronted him about it once… But once was all enough for him to basically tell me to stay away from her…"

He sighed, then said, "… He sucker-punched me as I was leaving, then told me if he caught me near Sienna ever again, he would kill me… And that if I told anyone that he abused Sienna and her mother, then he would kill me for that as well… Even though I doubt he would really kill me, I do, however, recognize that he would probably beat me half to death if he caught me with Sienna…"

"That's awful…" I said, shocked.

"I know…" Daniel said, "And yet… I just… Lately, I've… Been having feelings for Sienna… I just… I want to be there for her as more than just a friend… And I want so badly to tell her about this… But I don't know what she'd think of me if I did… That's why…"

He looked right at me.

"… I had this plan… When I got back from this seminar, I was going to take Sienna and her mother and we were gonna move to Japan. I figured I could give them a better life there. I had all the arrangements made… My dad was gonna secure us plane tickets, I was gonna sell my Jeep Wrangler before we got to the airport for extra cash, I had it all worked out… Now this killing game has thrown a huge wrench into my plan…"

He looked me right in the eyes, then said, "Manako… I… I would do _anything_ for Sienna… That's why I have to get out of this killing game… No matter what it takes…"

There was a long silence between us, but before too long, he finally said, "… I'm gonna go practice some more slapshots… Uh… Thanks for hanging out with me…"

"Sure thing…" I said, still kinda in awe by his dedication to Sienna.

Daniel nodded, then left me.

I checked the time on my phone.

It was noon by now, so I decided to go walk around some more.

As I was walking around, I noticed Vivi and Kelly over by the Café, which apparently was closed off as well.

"What're you two doing?" I asked.

"I wanted to get a latte, but th' café is closed off by this damn steel screen..." Kelly said, kicking the steel screen that was closed over the entrance to the café.

"It seems as if a lot of amenities at this hotel have been closed off after the killing game started…" Vivi said, her Egyptian cane scepter resting on her shoulder, "In fact, the entire third floor is closed off completely."

"Th' water park's closed off as well." Kelly added, "As well as th' aquarium, a few of the restaurants on the first floor, and the swimmin' pool and rental shop here on the second floor."

"We also have this in our Student Handbook app…" Vivi said, getting out her phone and opening the Student Handbook app on it, then showing me a certain section of it.

"… 'Reward Tiers?'" I asked.

Vivi nodded.

"It seems we're being offered 'rewards' for killing people…" she said.

"I just hope it never comes to that…" I said, looking down, "Especially after what happened to Mariko…"

"hey…" Vivi said, bringing my gaze up to hers using her scepter, "Chin up, my dear… I'm sure we will find a way out of this somehow…"

I gently pushed Vivi's scepter away from my face, then said, "… I'll figure something out…"

I then left the two, just as Kelly kicked the steel screen again.

After a long while of walking around, it was soon time for dinner, so I headed to the buffet restaurant once more.

The buffet tables were laden with all kinds of dinner foods of all varieties, and there was even a dessert table with tons of different desserts, a chocolate fountain, and a self-serve soft serve ice cream machine with all kinds of toppings next to it.

I decided to get myself some spaghetti and meatballs, Texas toast, a small plate of toasted raviolis like the kind they serve at Olive Garden, and a glass of diet Cherry Coke.

I took my usual seat with Sam, Joey, and Clarissa.

"So, have you guys found anything else out about this place?" I asked.

"… We were supposed to do that?" Joey asked, taking a bite of some pizza he got for himself, "I honestly just went to the computer room at the arcade and played League of Legends all day."

"Seriously?" Sam asked, "How can you play video games in a situation like this?"

"Hey, that's how I cope with things like this, alright?" Joey defended, "My mom's having a heated argument with my dad over the phone? I go to my room, fire up my Origin gaming computer rig and play Far Cry 4 all night. It's just how I roll."

"Well, that's one outlet, I guess…" I shrugged.

"Still, that doesn't change our current situation…" Sam said, "Point is, we're still stuck here…"

"I-I suppose we could look around some more tomorrow…" Clarissa suggested.

"Why bother?" I said, "There's only one entrance to the building, plus there's no stairs or fire exits…"

"Well…" Clarissa said, "… I-I did find something…"

"You did?" Sam asked.

Clarissa nodded.

"… there's a basement level with a trash disposal room, a laundry room, and a supply closet…" she said.

"Well, that's something, at least…" I said.

"In any case, I'm stuffed…" Sam said, having finished her huge plate of desserts, "I'm gonna go use the ladies room."

"Again?" I asked.

"Just to freshen up." Sam reassured, "Don't worry, I won't be long."

With that, Sam left us once again.

It wouldn't be until everyone had finished eating that she would return, which took about five or six minutes.

I decided I would confront Sam about this, so I took her aside after she came back from the bathroom.

"Sam…" I said, "I'm worried about you… You keep using the bathroom so often, and it's not just here. You've been doing this since I first met you, too."

"Manako…" Sam said, seeming defensive, "It's fine… really."

"But I-"

"I'm fine!" Sam shouted, "I just… Have digestion issues, alright?"

"Sam…"

"I have to go." Sam said quickly, then left me without another word.

I watched her leave, then shrugged, heading off to my own room.

Once there, I found a gift basket on my kitchenette island counter that had various chocolates, candies, and other small gifts, as well as a larger box in the middle of the basket.

I looked the gift basket over, then spotted a note by it.

It read:

" _Dear Manako-Chan,_

 _I felt kinda bad after killing your friend, so I decided to put together this little basket for ya._

 _I figure you'll get a kick out of the box of chocolates I included._

 _-Monokuma"_

I looked at the small cardboard box included in the basket, then took it out and set it down on the counter.

With a cautious hand that a bomb squad specialist would use while defusing a bomb, I opened the box.

Inside were a bunch of chocolates shaped like Okay hand signs, with a note that said 'Got Eem!'

"…"

I threw the box against the wall in anger while emitting a loud screech of anger.

"FUCK YOU!" I shouted, then began throwing more of the contents of the basket against the wall, "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!"

Once I ran out of things to throw, I seethed a bit, then eventually fell to my knees and sobbed.

After a while of sobbing, I eventually picked myself up, then just sorta hung out in my room before an announcement came through the hotel stating that it was light's out.

When that came on, I showered, then got ready for bed.

As I lay in my bed, I couldn't help but think about Daniel and Sienna.

The fact that he would do anything for her… That he would move heaven and earth for her… It was quite admirable…

He must really love her…

I just hope she's okay…

… No, I _really_ hope she's okay…

Suddenly, at that moment, I got a video message on my phone.

I picked up my phone, then opened the video message.

It appeared to be security camera footage, but… it seemed like it was set in a school…

I the footage appeared to be of Kai meeting a bunch of students of various looks and ages.

This footage in particular seemed to be of Kai meeting a young girl with black hair done in a set of pigtails, lavender eyes, a small, petite height and body frame, and wearing a light blue jacket with glittery snowflakes going up from the bottom of the sleeves and jacket to the middle of them with matching blue shorts that stopped at the middle of her thighs had the same white glittery lining on the sides of the shorts and light gray loafers that both had a big glittered snowflake on each toe of the shoes.

 _"Whoa hey listen."_ Kai said, _"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come at you like that. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."_

The girl's head lightly drooped as she breathed out. _"I'm… s-sorry."_

"Kai?" I muttered, wondering where this footage was coming from.

I saw Kai shake his head, then say _, "No don't go apologizing. You have nothing to be sorry about… um Sienna right?"_

The girl I assumed was Sienna gave a very tiny nod, then said, _"Yeah… I am Sienna… D-Donnelly. I'm… Ultimate Figure Skate-er."_

I'd only seen a picture of Sienna briefly years ago, and that was in a online news article about the Sochi Olympics a few years back.

In the picture, she was smiling while posing in front of the camera, but to see her like this… I could only infer that this was the Sienna that existed outside of news article cover photos…

… Wait…

… Did she say _Ultimate_ Figure Skater?

As in a SHSL title?

That must mean that the footage must be from the Hope's Peak campus in LA…

If that's the case… then…

Oh my God…

… What if Kai was in a killing game as well?

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Oh boy, what cliffhanger, am I right? I figure I'd leave this first Daily life chapter on a cliffhanger._

 _Also, I kinda drew from Kai's interaction with Sienna in Beninja2618's DR fic, since this is a collab fic and all._

 _But yeah, sorry this took so long to write. I wanted to get it done on Sunday, but I've been playing Far Cry 5 so much since last Friday when I got it. Gotta kill dem Peggies for 'Murica._

 _But hey, I at least woke up at 3am from a fevered nightmare involving me being in a new Five Night's at Freddy's game trying to hold a door closed as a Foxy-like animatronic tried to break it down, then immediately turned on my laptop and began typing while listening to a Trap Remix of We Are Number One from Lazytown._

 _Eventually, this chapter came into being, and now I can play games for an entire week without having to worry about putting this chapter off._

 _At least until I have to type the next chapter…._

 _Goddammit… XD_

 _Anyways, I'm done with this shit for this week._

 _Thanks for reading, my dudes._


	4. Chapter 1: Sayo-Nara

" _First rule about Literature Club: There's no Happiness in Literature Club. Second rule about Literature Club: Just Monika." -Weapon X Foxfurry_

 **Chapter One Daily Life**

 **Part Two:**

 **Sayo-Nara**

Another night came and went, and I'm as jaded as ever.

The very minute I woke up, I was immediately greeted with a feeling of weariness, both physical and emotional.

You know that moment that sometimes happens where you have to pretend that you're fine but you're not fine and you just can't get into it?

That's what I was going through.

I turned to my alarm clock and saw that the time was about ten minutes past eight.

Groaning, I got out of bed, showered, then got dressed, putting on a light pink designer halter top I got at an H&M over in Beverly Hills once with a light purple silk sash worn around my waist, tied in a bow that went over my middle back, a pair of blue denim form-fitting designer skinny jeans, and a pair of white and pink designer high-heeled boots that seemed to go a bit higher than most of the high-heeled footwear I brought with me on this excursion.

I also put on a pastel rose, pastel blue, and pastel green Team Moon charm bracelet, which had charms of crescent moons, chibi bunny heads, mortar and pestles, shooting stars, and the Team Moon logo.

It was available in the Team Moon shop online, and I had brought it along in the hopes that I could do a little merch promotion during the seminar, but clearly that didn't go as planned.

I styled my hair in it's usual side ponytail, then put a barrette shaped like a chibi bunny head in my hair as well.

I blinked, looking at my reflection some more.

I then thought 'fuck it', then got out my makeup kit from my clothing bag, then cycled through all of the lipstick colors I had available to me currently.

I figured if I was gonna be murdered here in some sick-assed killing game, I may as well look pretty.

Regardless, I chose a bright, glossy hot pink lipstick, then applied it, making a kiss sound motion to get the lipstick on both lips.

I then got out some pale pink eyeshadow, then put that over my upper and lower eyelids, applying it very lightly as not to make myself look too extravagant.

Finally, I applied some medium amounts of black mascara, putting on enough to accentuate my naturally long eyelashes, as well as make them look a bit glossy.

Finally, I was ready for the day.

I decided to make another Vlog entry before heading out, so I set up my laptop and webcam, fired up the recording software, then took a deep breath before beginning to record.

"Hey MoonFans…" I said, still looking a bit out of it, despite my pretty appearance, "Um… I know I probably look a bit prettier than usual, but I had that mindset where I told myself that if I'm going to be murdered in this Mutual Killing Seminar, I may as well look pretty…"

I paused a moment, then continued.

"I know that probably sounded like I skipped a few steps in the Grief process, but I just feel very out of it today… I prettied myself up on impulse, and that's never good… Still, despite me knowing full well now that it's highly unlikely this video will reach you all, again, I feel like I just need to keep making these update videos so that everyone knows what happened here... So that if something happens to me… then everyone will know what occured leading up to my demise… So that if help eventually does come… Then there will be evidence to convict these guys…"

I paused a little more to recompose myself, then said, "… Alright… I'm going to get going… But stay strong MoonFans… I'll… I'll find a way out of here without killing anyone… I swear it…"

Before I decided to stop recording, I then added, "Oh, and uh… If Sienna Donnely or her mother ends up watching this… Then just know that your friend Daniel Grievky cares about you guys a lot, and that he would move both heaven and earth for you…"

With that, I stopped recording, saved the video file on my computer, then closed my laptop up before retrieving my phone and room key, then heading to the buffet restaurant for breakfast.

Once there, I got a plate with a cheese and sausage omelet, some hash browns, and some sourdough toast, as well as a bottle of cranberry juice, then sat at my usual table with Sam, Joey, and Clarissa.

On the way to the table, I noticed that Cecilia, Franklin, and George all seemed to be sitting together, chatting away.

I also noticed that Nathan and Alice seemed to be sitting together as well.

"Hey, you look pretty today." Sam said as I sat next to her, "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion…" I said, "I just figured if I'm murdered, I may as well look pretty for it."

"That's uncharacteristically dark coming from you…" Joey said, taking a bite of a donut he was eating.

"It could be acceptance…" Sam suggested.

"Or maybe she's too much of a whore to be able to resist looking like a Barbie doll."

Nathan approached our table, a smug look on his face.

"Fuck off, Jarhead!" Sam growled, glaring at Nathan, "Don't you have better things to do than start shit because you're bored?"

"Shouldn't you be in the bathroom throwing up, you fat cow?" Nathan responded.

Sam seemed to go quiet at this, turning her gaze away with a hurt look on her face.

"C'mon, man, that's not cool…" Joey said, seeming to be emboldened enough to stand up for Sam, "Don't call her fat. She's obviously self-conscious about it."

"Oh, cry me a river, snowflake." Nathan responded, "I don't give a fuck what she thinks."

I suddenly stood and glared got right in Nathan's face, glaring.

"… I think you need to seriously leave." I warned.

"Listen, bitch." Nathan said, glaring back at me, "In case you haven't noticed, the lines are already being drawn. Look around you. Alliances are already being made in this killing game. Those that stick together will survive. Those that remain act alone will die out fast."

"So, basically gang up on the weaker ones?" I retorted, "Is that it?"

"You're catching on..." Nathan said, smirking, "That's good…"

He leaned in closer, then whispered, "Gives me more justification to spill the beans."

"Nathan, I swear to God…" I warned, "If you tell anyone about our past, I'll-"

"What, you'll kill me?" Nathan taunted, chuckling, "Heh… I guess you're starting to get the hang of things here, then… May as well wear a target on your back because now… I've got you in my sights."

He then took a step or two away from me, then said, "Good to know we're on the same wavelength, though."

He then left us, going back to Alice before leaving with her.

"It seems he's not kidding…" Joey said, looking around, "I mean, you got Nathan and Alice hanging out, then you got Cecilia, Franklin, and George hanging around one another…"

"… And then there's us…" Sam finished, "… The ones who don't want to kill…"

"I… I-I could never k-kill…" Clarissa stuttered, visibly trembling.

"I'll make sure you won't have to." Sam reassured her, "I promise."

Clarissa gave a shy smile, brushing a bit of her hair out of her eyes, as Sam smiled back.

Once breakfast was finished, I noticed I had some more free time, so I decided to use that free time.

 **Free Time Start!**

I decided to spend my free time for today with Sam, since I noticed that what Nathan said to her earlier seemed to hit her pretty hard.

I found her over by the ice cream shop, seeming to be looking at something on her phone.

"Hey." I greeted, as she looked over, putting her phone away quickly.

"Yo." Sam greeted, smiling a bit.

"You wanna get some ice cream?" I asked.

"I'd love to." Sam said, rushing right inside the ice cream shop, as I followed.

Sam made herself a huge sundae made of triple chocolate and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, hot fudge topping, crushed Oreos, and whipped topping, whereas I got a simple soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone.

As Sam began to chow down on her sundae, I felt obliged to engage her in conversation so that she would take breaks in between bites.

"… So…" I began, "… About Nathan…"

"Huh?" Sam said, "Oh, that creep? Fuck him. I hope he dies first in this killing game."

"… Sam… That's not a nice thing to say, all things considered…" I said.

"So what? It's true." Sam responded, "If he died first I totally wouldn't be bothered, especially after that comment he made towards me. Fuckin' Jarhead prick…"

"Yeah, about that…" I said, "…. Sam, there's something I've been meaning to ask you, and this time, I want an honest answer…"

I breathed in and out through my nose, then asked the one question I needed an answer to.

"… What do you keep doing in the bathroom that takes so long and occurs so frequently?"

The suntanned SHSL Starlet went quiet, and had even stopped eating her sundae, which to be fair, was almost finished by now.

"… Manako…" she said, "… What I'm about to tell _cannot_ leave the two of us… Not only that, but I especially don't want Nathan finding out, either… He'd have a field day if he found this out…"

She was quiet a moment more, then went on.

"… The thing is… This whole time… I've been bulimic… Did you know that?"

I was shocked.

Samantha Cutler, my best friend and personal inspiration, was bulimic?

"Not only that…" she went on, "… But the reason I developed Bulimia is because I've had really bad depression from being called fat by producers and even my agent…"

She set down her spoon, seeming to trace the rim of her sundae bowl with her finger as she continued.

"… It all started a few years back… A little bit before I met you… We were filming a movie called Spy Academy. In between scenes, they had a bunch of donuts and snacks laid out at the snack area in the studio, and I was about to help myself to a Boston crème donut, and I took one bite, and my agent came over and said to me, 'The cow goes moo' before saying I shouldn't eat so many sweets or else I won't be able to fit into the costume I was wearing for the movie… Since then, I've had this bad self-body image where I constantly felt like I was too fat, even though I wasn't that overweight… Then one day… After a particularly bad interaction with a director who said I was 'as fat as a whale', I… I went back to my mansion… Then I suddenly binged on a bunch of snacks that were in my fridge… then… I went right to the bathroom… Then threw up in the toilet… I eventually developed bulimia as a result… And not only that… But I developed really bad depression on top of it all… I even almost considered killing myself once… Of course, my eating disorder wasn't without its consequences… I didn't have a lot of energy a lot of days, so I ended up drinking a lot of energy drinks and energy shots, especially during filming… Not only that, but my body didn't have enough muscle at one point, so I legit had to bulk up a bit, and when that didn't give me enough body mass in the time that I needed it, I went to a plastic surgeon and implants put into my breasts and butt… That's why I'm so thick… because there's so much silicon inside me…"

Sam suddenly began sobbing hysterically.

I went over next to her and rubbed her back to soothe her.

"Hey… Listen…" I told her, "Sam… I know we won't be able to do it in a single day… But if you let me, I can help you get better… I know a ton of diet plans that are way better than what you've been doing, and if you let me, I can help you come up with a diet plan that can help your body benefit more than binge-eating and purging can… Not only that, but I… Well, I'm no psychiatrist, but you can always talk to me whenever you're feeling particularly depressed…"

Sam eventually stopped sobbing, going silent.

She soon hugged me tightly.

"… Thank you, Manako…" she said, sniffling.

"No prob, Sam-Chan." I said, smiling.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

After that particular exchange, it was soon dinner time, and once again, I made my way to the buffet restaurant, getting a plate full of food, then sitting at the usual table with my friends.

There wasn't a lot of conversation that time, but I did notice Sam went over by Nathan's table sometime after she finished eating for some reason.

Before too long, I had finished eating, and decided to take a bit of a walk while I went over the student rulebook on my student handbook app.

Halfway through reading the list, I soon came upon Johan, who seemed to be looking up at the night sky through the skylight in the atrium.

"… Johan-San?" I said, as he looked over.

"Oh, Good evening, Miss Manako." He said, smiling slightly while adjusting his glasses, "It's quite pleasant to see you on this fine evening."

"Thanks…" I said.

I noticed he seemed as off I was earlier today.

"… Something up?" I asked.

"… I must confess, Miss Manako…" Johan sighed, "… I have a sense of strong foreboding all of a sudden… It's as if something very terrible is about to transpire…"

"I'm sure it's nothing…" I reassured.

Johan shook his head.

"… No, this feeling is never wrong…" he said, "The last time I had it… the day after a deadly skirmish between a local war clan and local PMC forces occurred in my cousin's home town over in The Congo Republic… The military had a tough time trying to break the fight up… and there were a lot of civilian casualties… He was one of the ones injured in the skirmish…"

He pointed to his left temple.

"… A stray bullet hit him here…" he said, "He survived, but he developed short-term memory loss as a result. He can no longer remember past a full week…"

"I see…" I said, "… Well, I'll see to it personally that nothing bad happens… I promise."

Johan was silent, but soon smiled.

"… I'm sure you'll do great, Miss Manako." He said.

He bowed, then said, "Good evening to you."

He then left, as I looked up at the night sky through the atrium skylight.

Before too long, I returned to my hotel room, sighing as I sat down on my bed, taking my boots off.

I sat in silence before deciding to open up my laptop and look over some of the older videos I had saved up on it.

It was then that I noticed that I suddenly had a few new video files saved on my laptop that I know for a fact I never had or filmed before.

There were three in total, and they were all labeled peculiarly.

The first was labeled 'I love Petite girls'.

I almost thought it was some weird porno, but out of curiosity, I opened the video file, playing it in Windows media player.

The video seemed like it was being filmed with a digital camcorder, and it appeared to be set at a ice rink of some kind, most likely one typically used for Hockey.

The camera view panned to Sienna skating along on the ice, as the camera person stood on the ice before her.

" _See? You're getting it."_ Said a familiar voice.

"… Daniel?" I murmured.

Sienna soon skidded to a stop in front of Daniel, who I assumed was filming the video.

" _Th-thanks…"_ Sienna stammered, giving a weak smile.

" _Something up, Sienna?"_ Daniel asked.

"… _Its…"_ Sienna began but was soon interrupted by the booming voice of a Russian man calling out to them.

" _Daniel! Come over here a moment, vill you?"_ the man called out.

" _Oh, that's my dad."_ Daniel said to Sienna, " _You wanna meet him?"_

" _Sure, I guess…"_ Sienna said, nodding.

Daniel led Sienna over to the home team entrance to the rink, helping her take off her ice skates and put on her shoes, as he took off his own ice skates and put on a pair of adidas sneakers.

After that, he led Sienna over to an older man that I inferred was Daniel's father.

He was about in his late forties, with pale skin, short greyish-brown hair, blue eyes, a muscular, but stereotypical dad-like body type, and was wearing a Russian military jacket overtop a Detroit Red Wings Hockey jersey, a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pair of snow boots.

" _Ah, Daniel, child."_ The man said, smiling, " _And you must be Sienna girl Daniel is always talking about at dinner table, da?"_

Sienna trembled nervously, recoiling closer to Daniel as she rubbed her left arm, not really making eye contact, either.

" _Ah, shy quiet type, eh?"_ Daniel's dad said with a chuckle, _"Vell, don't worry, little one. Daniel is good boy. He will make fine husband someday."_

" _Dad, c'mon…"_ Daniel said sheepishly, " _Sienna's just a friend."_

" _Well, come over here anyway, son."_ Daniel's dad said, " _I need help restocking vending machine in game room. And turn off camera. You don't need to film all the time."_

" _Uh, sure."_ Daniel said before the camera footage turned off, the video ending.

I closed out of that video file, then opened up the second, which was labeled 'What a Feeling'.

The video showed footage of Sienna and her mother over by the entrance to the floor of an ice rink, as Sienna looked super-nervous, clad in an ice-blue leotard with a sequin snowflake design on it.

" _I don't know if I can do this…"_ Sienna whimpered.

" _Hey…"_ Sienna's mother said, gently bringing Sienna's gaze to meet her own and smiling sweetly, " _Remember what we talked about earlier… Use that."_

" _Yeah, you can do it."_ Daniel said, " _I believe in you, Sienna."_

"… _Daniel…"_ Sienna said, looking over at Daniel, then smiled slightly and said, "… _Thanks…"_

" _No prob."_ Daniel said, " _I'm sure you'll like the song I chose for the routine. I uh… I chose it especially for you and managed to convince the audio guys to play it for the routine."_

" _Th-thanks…"_ Sienna said, nodding.

" _Right, I'm gonna get to my seat in the audience."_ Daniel said, " _But I'll be watchin' ya, Sienna. I got my camera trained on ya."_

The camera view would show Daniel leaving Sienna, then heading up to a seat in the audience section of the ice rink, a seat close to the rink itself, at that.

Before too long, as a voice spoke on the PA in Japanese, Sienna soon skated out to the middle of the rink, going into an en—pointe stance.

It was then that she closed her eyes completely, and when that happened, 'Flashdance… What a Feeling' by Irene Cara began to play on the Rink's music PA system, at which point Sienna began to skate her routine.

She started out slow and graceful as the song began slow and peaceful, then once the song picked up in tempo, she began skating a few faster, graceful moves, then once it got to the refrain, she did a sort of spin on the ice before skating again, then continued this routine until the fourth refrain, at which point she seemed to incorporate a small 80's Flashdance-inspired dance on the ice before going back to skating.

And all throughout this… Sienna never once opened her eyes.

I now knew what Daniel meant when he called Sienna 'The Blind Ice Dancer'.

After a while, the video soon ended, and I opened up the third and final video, titled 'Have a Nice Weekend'.

The video had Daniel filming once more, and this time he and Sienna were outside a drive-in, Sienna sipping on a milkshake.

" _So listen…"_ Daniel said, " _Um… I don't know how to put this… But I'm gonna be going away for the weekend…"_

" _Where to?"_ Sienna asked curiously.

" _I got an invitation to this Seminar being held by Hope's Peak."_ Daniel said, " _They gave me the title of SHSL Centerman because of my team winning against the Russian Hockey Team in the Sochi Olympics two years ago."_

Sienna's eyes lit up as she smiled.

" _That's wonderful, Daniel!"_ she chirped, then said, " _What day will you be back?"_

" _Sometime Monday…"_ Daniel answered, _"I'll be early enough that I could drive you home from school…"_

He seemed to trail off at that point, as if he wanted to tell Sienna something, but couldn't.

It was then that Sienna's phone made the New Text message notification sound, and she promptly checked it.

Her expression became somber as she read the text.

"… _I have to go home…"_ she said suddenly.

" _Alright…"_ Daniel said, _"I'll… I'll drive you."_

The camera then switched off and the video stopped.

I guess I had more context to Daniel's relationship with Sienna now.

And knowing what I now know about Sienna's relationship with her father, I seriously hope she's okay without Daniel.

I sighed, putting away my laptop, getting changed into my PJs, then laying back in my bed.

I felt heavy.

Not only that, but I myself started to have a bad feeling as well.

As if something bad really was gonna happen…

… Something I couldn't stop.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The next day I woke up a little better, the radio station on my alarm clock waking me up like it did the first two mornings here, this time playing 'Rock and Roll High School' by The Ramones.

I went through my typical routine, showering, getting dressed in expensive designer clothing, making another quick update video log that no one would probably see, then getting my room key and heading down to breakfast.

Once there, I noticed something was different…

Something was off today right off the bat…

Sam wasn't there.

She wasn't at the table with Joey and Clarissa.

Needless to say, I sat down with the two of them.

"Hey, you guys seen Sam anywhere?" I asked.

"Not really…" Joey said, "Haven't seen her since last night…"

"I haven't either…" Clarissa added, "She's typically one of the first people to meals… I hope she's okay."

Knowing what I do now about Sam's eating disorder, that sentence made more sense to me than Clarissa knew.

"Come to think of it…" Joey added, "Nathan seemed to not spend a lot of time here when he came down for breakfast earlier."

"… I'm gonna go look for her…" I said suddenly, putting my plate down.

"I'll help." Joey said, "I can always eat later."

The two of us then went upstairs and headed for Sam's room.

Once there, I knocked on her door.

"… Sam?" I asked, "Hey, wake up… You're missing breakfast…"

No answer.

This didn't bode well.

I tried turning the doorknob to her room, then saw the door actually open, a paper slip falling out from between the door and the doorway.

"… It's unlocked?" Joey wondered aloud.

This boded even worse.

Still, I had to make sure she was okay.

This seemed like something a girlfriend would do their boyfriend, but me and Sam are pretty much straight as a die.

Nevertheless, I still had to wake her up.

I opened the door.

"Sam?"

 **( _Sayo-Nara; Doki Doki Literature Club OST)_**

 **Sam was on the floor on her side beside a shattered glass coffee table in the living area, a pool of magenta blood underneath her. Her face was cut up and had glass shards embedded in it, a huge glass shard embedded in her forehead. She had a black eye on her left eye that was swollen shut, and her nose was completely broken and leaking blood. There was also a stab wound on her stomach that leaked blood as well.**

"WHOA! WHAT THE HELL?!" Joey exclaimed in shock, falling back on his rear as he let out a loud yelp of shock.

I trembled, my eyes wide with shock and horror.

I then emitted a loud, bloodcurdling scream of terror.

Eventually I fell to my knees and began sobbing loudly.

Sam… My best friend and inspiration…

… she was dead…

Someone killed her…

Suddenly, however, I glanced over at the bathroom door for a mere second, then saw something that I didn't expect to see.

Nathan was standing by the bathroom door, his eyes wide, and looking like he'd just washed his hands.

"… Nathan?" I asked aloud.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _And thus the first murder has occurred before a motive has been given!_

 _Not intentionally, though… I intended to give the motive a little earlier, but due to time constraints and me going way past my self-assigned deadline, I'm gonna leave it out until the first part of the investigation next chapter._

 _Also, if you've read Benninja2618's half of me and his little Dangan Ronpa collab fic, you'll know that I'm pretty milking the dramatic irony regarding Sienna's fate in his fic for all that it's worth._

 _Also, try and see if you can spot all the Doki Doki Literature Club references in this chapter._

 _Make it a game._

 _Take a drink every time you see one._

 _Sorry this took so long, guys._

 _I'm officially addicted to Far Cry 5._

 _Anyways, I'm out. Peace b_


	5. Chapter 1: Blame game

" _This fanfic is brought to you by:_

 _Irregular sleep patterns_

 _Overconsumption of junk food_

 _Video Game Addiction_

 _Obsessive Forum Roleplaying habits_

 _Self-deprecative tendencies_

 _Negative self-image_

 _Asperger's Syndrome_

 _And readers like you._

 _Thank you." -Weapon X Foxfurry, 2018_

 **Chapter One Investigation**

 **Part One:**

 **Pointing Fingers and Naming Names**

"…"

Nathan froze, standing in the doorway of the bathroom, looking right at me with a surprised look on his face.

He appeared to be holding some kind of knife with a long steel blade and an iron Brass knuckle-style handle.

There appeared to be blood on both the blade and the brass knuckle handle.

"… I swear to God this isn't what it looks like…" he said.

As if on cue, the PA intercom system turned on suddenly.

" _ **Attention Students!**_ " said a voice I recognized as Monokuma's, " _ **A body has been found! A body has been found!"**_

I looked up at the speaker as the announcement came on, then at Nathan once it finished.

Nathan set the knife down on the floor, then said, "… Manako, listen to me carefully… I know I haven't exactly been nice or respectful to you and Sam, but I did not kill her."

"… Well, you've done a good job of convincing me otherwise so far!" I shouted, glaring at Nathan.

"Manako, listen!" Nathan shouted, "I didn't do this! Someone set me up!"

"Bullshit!" I shouted, "I've seen how you treated me and Sam! I bet you were anxious to-"

Suddenly, Nathan shoved me against a wall and held me there, pinning me by my chest and neck with one arm, then covering my mouth completely with his other hand.

"Listen to me very carefully…" he said, his tone dark and his expression as cold and serious as Liam Neeson in Taken, "We have about ten minutes before the other students at this seminar start piling in here to stop and stare, so you need to listen to me carefully."

"Oh my god, is that a dead body?!"

Me and Nathan both turned to the door to see Kelly standing there, her eyes wide with shock.

Nathan let go of me, then stepped away from me.

Before too long, the other students began piling into the hotel room, except for Alice, who seemed to be absent for some reason.

"Great Anubis' Tomb…" Vivi said, covering her mouth in shock when she saw Sam's body.

"What the hell?" Eleanor said, looking genuinely stunned.

"Bloody hell…" Martin muttered.

"…" Clarissa seemed to stare wide-eyed at Sam's corpse in horror, then vomited on herself and the floor, having covered her mouth as she threw up.

Liza had a traumatized expression on her face, looking like all the happiness in the world had suddenly disappeared.

Yuri had a somber expression on his face as he muttered something in Russian.

"The bloody hell's the big deal?" George said coldly, shrugging, "The bitch is dead. Get over it."

"Everyone clear back." Franklin said, stepping forward in front of the crowd of students, "This is a crime scene."

"No shit, Edgeworth!" Said Monokuma as he popped up from nowhere.

"What do you want?" I asked Monokuma, glaring.

"Easy." Monokuma said, as UsagiKuma seemed to pop up from nowhere as well, "See, I was gonna give you kids a motive today at breakfast, but it seems that one of you has showed some initiative and murdered someone even without a public motive! I love it!"

"… 'Public Motive?'" I asked, confused.

"Oops, did I say that out loud?" Monokuma mocked, "Whatever, don't question it. Shut up. Anyways, since there's been a murder before the motive was given, I may as well give you kids incentive for finding out the blackened through both trial and investigation."

"'Investigation?'" Belle asked.

"Of course!" Monokuma said in a very M. Bison fashion, "What, you thought you kids could just kill someone and walk out of here scot-free? Where do you think we are, Florida?"

Monokuma seemed to glance at Clarissa for a moment at that last part.

Clarissa blinked in confusion.

"Anyways…" Monokuma said, "Yes, you kids have to find out who the blackened is by investigating the murder, collecting evidence and testimony. Once you do that, proceed to the VIP elevator in the casino and we'll proceed right to the trial!"

"Oi, Nathan!"

Alice suddenly pushed through the crowd and ran to Nathan.

"I did that thing you told me to do." she said, "Sorry it took me so long, but I had to… Nathan, why's everyone staring at us?"

I stared at Alice, but more importantly, I stared at her left boot.

Her left boot had blood on it.

"… Alice…" Nathan said, then whispered something to her.

When he did this, Alice went wide-eyed then emitted a squeak before checking her boot.

"Crikey, when did that happen?!" she exclaimed.

"Well, we'll put a pin in that for later." Monokuma said, "In the meantime, everyone open up your Student Handbook apps on your phones and select the Monokuma File in it!"

I did so, as did the others.

It read as follows:

 **The victim is Samantha Cutler, the SHSL Starlet.**

 **She was found in the hotel room of Colonel Nathan Sampson, the SHSL Commando.**

 **The cause of death is blunt force impact from hitting her head on a glass coffee table.**

 **There also appears to be a massive bruise on her left eye, as well her nose being completely broken, and also there being a stab wound in her stomach.**

 **The time of death was around 10:40 pm**

Cecilia whispered something to Franklin after reading the Monokuma file, who smirked.

"It seems that Samantha was murdered in Colonel Sampson's room." Cecilia said, glancing at Nathan.

Nathan glared at Cecilia.

"I didn't do it, I swear!" he said, raising his voice.

"That's not good enough." Franklin responded, smirking, "Simply saying you didn't do something doesn't hold up in court."

"Yeah, but don't ya need evidence in order to convict someone?" Alice pointed out.

"True…" Franklin mused, then pointed at her in a very Phoenix Wright fashion, then added, "But… How do we know you're not covering for Nathan? What if you're an accessory to his crime… or perhaps… Maybe he convinced you to perform the murder for him?"

"Nathan ain't no murderer, you blighter!" Alice shouted, glaring at Franklin.

"Upupupupu! Good luck sorting this out!" Monokuma laughed, "I can't interfere, of course, but I can limit where you kids can go to investigate. But, before I go, I shall give you bastards your motive…"

He gestured to UsagiKuma, who sighed, then handed him a monochrome envelope, which he opened, then read the paper inside it aloud.

"… Do you kids want to get your memories back?" he read, "Expose the Blackened and I could give you your memories back!"

He crumpled up the paper, then tossed it into the hall, at which point it exploded like a grenade like in the 1990's Inspector Gadget cartoon.

"Good luck, bastards!" Monokuma said, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

UsagiKuma, however, just sorta left on her own, looking guilty.

"I swear, there's something up about that Android broad…" Kelly mused, watching UsagiKuma leave.

"More importantly…" Martin said, "This business about our memories… It seems we now have an incentive t' investigate."

"Which means…" Johan added, "… We shouldn't jump to conclusions and assume who the killer is…"

"Oh, so the intellectuals have spoken…" George responded sarcastically, then smirked and said, "I look forward to proving you cunts wrong."

I was silent.

I knew things looked pretty bad for Nathan currently, but I couldn't write him off as the murderer right off the bat.

I needed to know the truth.

I owed that to Sam…

 **INVESTIGATION START!**

I decided to investigate the actual crime scene itself first, going over to Sam's body and looking it over.

Immediately, I noticed the bruise on her eye and her broken nose.

"It looks like there was a struggle…" Belle spoke, walking over.

I nodded.

"Whoever did this knew where to hit her…" I said.

However, I then noticed something.

There were traces of skin under Sam's fingernails.

 **Skin under Sam's Fingernails obtained**

"Hey, I think I found another weapon!" Joey said, gesturing to under the nearby couch.

I went over and looked under the couch.

Sure enough, a folding tactical knife was underneath the couch.

There were traces of blood on it, suggesting that either it was the murder weapon, or Sam used it to fight back.

I really hoped it was the latter…

 **Tactical knife obtained**

It was then that I recalled the weird knife Nathan had been holding earlier, so I went over to look that over.

I saw that Yuri was already inspecting the knife.

"So, what kind of knife even is that?" I asked the Russian Hitman.

"It is American-made Vintage Knuckle Duster trench knife…" Yuri answered, "Used by American G.I.s during World War I as a close-range trench weapon…"

He showed me the knife in more detail.

"If you look here…" he said, then pointed to the knuckle part of the knife.

There was blood on the knuckler part of the knife, in addition to the blood on the blade.

"I think this might have been used to inflict facial wounds to Comrade Samantha…" Yuri spoke.

"As opposed to killing her?" I pointed out.

Yuri chuckled, smirking coyly, then said, "Well, that's the point of this investigation, Da?"

"I suppose it is…" I sighed.

 **Bloody Knuckle Duster Knife obtained**

I looked over at Nathan.

He looked upset, but there was something else it looked like he was feeling.

It looked like fear.

As much as I hated to do so, I decided to go talk to him.

I approached him, as he looked at me.

"… Come to accuse me of murdering your fat-assed bimbo friend?" he asked.

"I just want to know what you know about the murder…" I said.

"… Let me ask you something…" Nathan responded, "… If Sam was murdered in my room… Then why is her room label on the door of my room? Didn't you come in here thinking this was her room?"

I blinked, then gained a look of realization.

I went over to the door to Nathan's room, as Nathan followed me.

As I remembered, the room label of Sam's room was on Nathan's door.

I looked next door and saw that the room label of Nathan's room was on Sam's door.

Curious, I touched the door label to Sam's room.

It seemed to move slightly.

Then, I tried picking the label off of the door.

Sure enough, the label came right off.

I checked the underside and saw there was a magnet underneath it.

 **Room Labels obtained**

"… Last night at dinner…" Nathan spoke, as I looked at him, "… Sam came to me asking if her and I could switch rooms… She claimed that her bed was bad for her back… Which was odd, considering her bed had a Temprapedic Mattress, which is a type of mattress specifically designed and marketed for people with back problems…"

Nathan shrugged, then continued.

"Anyways, when I went into Sam's room, I decided to do some reading, so I had brought a book I got from the book store in the underground mall, that being Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and just decided to read it until I was tired enough for bed. Of course, around 10:37 pm, I heard a loud thud come from behind the wall separating Sam's room from mine, almost like something or someone was slammed into it."

 **Nathan's Account Obtained**

"So… Are you saying…" I said, "… That Sam…"

Nathan looked into my eyes, then said, "… I hate to tell you this, bitch, but it seems like your friend tried to set me up."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Because of something Alice found…" Nathan said, gesturing to the SHSL Pilot.

I looked to Alice, who said, "Well, I found something over in th' Trash room."

"Well, I'll look at that in a moment…" I said, "I gotta investigate other stuff first."

Nathan shrugged, as I left him to go over to Sam's body again.

I saw Johan looking over Sam's body.

"… You see something I don't, Johan-Kun?" I asked.

Johan nodded, then smiled.

"I'm surprised you didn't see it, Miss Manako." He said, pointing at the right side of Sam's face.

I looked and saw that there was a gash on Sam's left temple, almost as if something big and hard hit her in the face.

"Whatever hit her must have hit her hard enough to knock her over and make her hit the glass coffee table…" Johan spoke, "The glass breaking and puncturing her skull is what killed her, of course… And not only that…"

He gestured to a shelf to the right of the coffee table.

There was a rack on the shelf that looked like it was designed to hold knives or daggers on it.

I thought back to the knuckle duster knife that was found and realized that the knife must've been on display on the rack on the shelf.

 **Knife Rack Obtained**

"Whoever murdered Miss Samantha must have picked up the knuckle knife in the struggle…" Johan said, "As well as the actual murder weapon itself…"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that, actually…" I said, "What do you think the murder weapon was, even?"

"Whatever it was, it had to be small enough to pick up quickly but big enough to slam against Sam's face hard enough to knock her over." The SHSL Chessmaster replied, "So most likely it was some kind of small statue or trophy or some other kind of ornament."

 **Johan's Account Obtained**

"Makes sense…" I said, nodding.

I then though about the tactical knife Joey found, then went over to him.

"Hey…" I said, "I just thought of something regarding the tactical knife…"

"I was thinking the same thing…" Joey said, "Wasn't there a Military Surplus store in the Underground mall?"

"That would probably be where Sam got the knife…" I said.

"I actually checked that place out earlier…" Joey said, "Out of curiosity, of course, nothing major. They don't just have knives there, but they also have guns."

"'Guns?'" I said, shocked.

"Not just handguns, but like full-on assault rifles, submachine guns, machine pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles…" Joey said, "they even have antique weapons, too… As well as ammunition and modifications, as well."

"Whoa…" I said, stunned at the amount of detail that Monokuma had put into this place.

"I guess it would have been pretty easy for Sam to obtain a tactical knife from the Military Surplus store…" Joey said.

"Question is…" I said, "… Why did she even have it in the first place?"

 **Joey's Account Obtained**

"Oi!" Alice called to me.

I sighed, then went over to Alice.

"Took ya long enough!" she said, "Listen, I found something in the Trash room earlier that might pertain to the case."

I shrugged, glancing around the room.

That's when I noticed something.

There was a clear plastic cup of a red juice of some kind, as well as an open bottle of a sports drink on the kitchenette counter that had a bit of it emptied.

 **Sports Drink Obtained**

"Oi, are you payin' attention!" Alice shouted.

I looked back at Alice.

"Honestly…" she shrugged, then said, "Jus' follow me."

She then led me down to the ground level, then to a door over by the hallway to the casino labeled 'Basement stairwell'.

She led me down the stairwell behind the door, and we soon found ourselves in a basement hallway with three doors in it.

One door was labeled 'Laundry Room', another labeled 'Storeroom' and a third labeled 'Trash room'.

She led me into the trash room.

Inside was what looked like a large trash compactor and an incinerator of some kind.

The compactor had a control panel in front of it with a button to compact trash, and to reverse the compactor.

However, it looked like it had been used recently, as the compactor was half-pushed in.

Inside the compactor appeared to be some kind of trophy or award, shaped like a large brass shield on a wooden base.

 **Award Obtained**

"See that?" Alice said, "I think that must be th' murder weapon. Not only that…"

She then pointed to the incinerator.

There was a piece of half-burnt red fabric under the hatch on the incinerator.

"… It seems th' murderer half-assed it on the cleanup, he did." Alice said.

I blinked, then said, "… and you found this… _before_ the official investigation?"

"Eh, jus' a hunch Nathan had." Alice said dismissively, then added, "also, last night, I remember going out to get a drink from the vendin' machines, and I ran into two people during that time. Th' first was Vivian. I ran into her at about 10:30 pm. She said she was getting some ice since she was out of it in her room. Then, at around 10:46 pm, when I went to go to th' convenience store in th' underground mall to get an ice cream sandwich before it closed, I saw Daniel out and about, I did. He didn't say much. He just sorta walked past me. I saw Daniel twice, though, is th' thing… Th' first time I saw him going past th' entrance to the underground mall carrying something, and th' second time, I saw him on the glass elevator in th' atrium, no longer carryin' anythin'."

"I… See…" I said.

 **Obtained Alice's Account**

Suddenly, an announcement came on the PA.

" _Attention Students!"_ Said Monokuma's voice, " _The time for investigation is up! Please proceed to the main lobby of the casino!"_

I glanced at Alice, then sighed.

"I guess that's us…" I said, then headed up the stairs towards the casino, Alice following after me.

I think I had enough evidence to solve this murder.

I just had to put the clues together to find the truth…

If Nathan was innocent… If he was set up…

Then that would mean…

… That one of us murdered Sam and tried to pin it on him…

As much as he was a jerk to me right now, I couldn't let him take the fall for something like this.

Not after how I treated him back then.

That's why I had to find out the truth…

To exposed the blackened and get justice for Sam's death…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _This's a shorter chapter because A. I didn't want to drag it out for too long considering it's the first murder and that one's typically the easiest, and B. because I was on a schedule and needed to get this done._

 _Anyways, that's how I put off a chapter for like a week while playing Far Cry 5._

 _I have a serious problem._

 _Plz sned help._

 _Well, in any case, I hope you enjoyed this investigation bit as much as I enjoyed writing it._

 _Imma go play Far Cry 5 again._

 _Peace out, homies._


	6. Chapter 1 Trial

" _I can guarantee you, with 100% certainty, that the end result of this trial will upset Beninja2618." -Weapon X Foxfurry, 2018_

 **Chapter one Trial**

 **Part one:**

 **You Kill You Lose Challenge**

When me and Alice got to the casino, we'd see that the others were gathered in front of a large golden statue of Monokuma sitting atop a seat of some kind, appearing to be doing his best impression of the Lincoln memorial.

The statue itself was located against a back wall in the casino, right between the off-track betting area and the bar counter.

"So, this is it, then?" I spoke, "This golden statue leads to the courtroom?"

"So it would seem…" Vivi mused, "Like a literal Golden Calf…"

"It seems like he's compensating for something…" Joey murmured.

Suddenly, the front of the bottom part of the throne opened up like a sliding door, revealing a short hallway that led to a large elevator that appeared to be able to hold everyone still alive inside it.

"… I guess we're expected to get in…" I mused.

"No fucking shit." Nathan responded sharply, "Let's get this shit over with."

"Someone seems eager to be executed…" Franklin mused, smirking.

"Save it, bloodsucker." Nathan growled, flipping him the middle finger as he got into the elevator.

As everyone began to pile into the elevator, I shot Franklin a glare as I headed towards the elevator myself.

Suddenly, however, he put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"You seem to have faith that Nathan's not the killer…" he said coolly.

"Yeah…" I responded, turning to him, "There's this neat thing called 'innocent until proven guilty' that you of all people should know about."

Franklin chuckled.

"Oh, you foolish little girl…" he said, smirking, "I think you'll find that while you and your little Aussie friend were down in the basement playing Snoop, I was still gathering decisive evidence at the crime scene itself, and not only that… But Monokuma allowed me to look in Samantha's room."

"He did _what?!_ " I said, raising an eyebrow.

"It's true." Franklin said, smirking, "I asked him, and he allowed me access to Samantha's room. While in there, I managed to gather some very decisive evidence indeed…"

He chuckled, then patted my shoulder before joining the others.

I was awestruck.

What kind of evidence could Franklin have gathered that would implicate Nathan?

I really had a bad feeling about this…

Regardless, I got into the elevator, the doors to it closing once everyone was inside.

When this happened, the elevator began to make a descent downwards.

As the elevator descended below ground, I had this sinking feeling, like I was trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits like a snared prehistoric animal.

Still, I knew what had to be done.

Sam was an unhappy person…

She was self-conscious about her body image and undergoing possibly unmedicated depression.

She was also my friend, and I always managed to make her smile.

Now, one of us killed her.

No…

One of us _murdered_ her.

One of us was blackened by this horrible murder.

And it was up to us to expose the culprit.

We owed that much to Sam…

 _I_ owed that much to Sam…

Before too long, the elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened up to reveal a long hallway with red velvet-lined walls, as well as a long red carpet leading to a door at the far end.

The double doors at the end of the hallway led to a huge, round room that looked like a combination of a court room and an arena for some kind of televised event, like The Oscars or something.

There were a bunch of podiums arranged in a circle, as well as a large monitor console on the ceiling arranged in a way that all four monitors were pointed at each podium.

Of course, two of the podiums had signs with the pictures of the two students who have died so far.

The first was of Sam's face on it crossed out with a large red X, except this X had an outline of a film reel canister bordering it, with a bit of film draping out of the canister.

The second had Mariko's face on it with an X that had a police badge outline bordering it.

I guess this was to signify they were absent from the class trial because… Well, they were dead, obviously.

Like some kind of dark parody of their talents.

"Alright, class!" Monokuma called from some kind of throne at the far wall of the court room, UsagiKuma standing beside him with a sad expression, "Everyone pick a podium and I'll go over the rules of the class trial."

Obviously, I chose a spot right next to Sam's sign, but strangely, Nathan seemed to pick a spot on the other side of Sam's sign.

I guess he was as eager to prove his innocence as I was.

Before too long, everyone still alive had chosen a separate podium.

"Great, now here's the rules…" Monokuma began, "The most obvious being the one everyone should know; The point of this trial is to expose the blackened, and if everyone here succeeds in exposing them, then they get executed and everyone else lives! But if the other students fail to expose the blackened, then they get to go free, while everyone else gets executed!"

"What?!" Joey exclaimed, looking shocked.

"That's insane!" Kelly shouted, "You mean we all get iced if we fuck this up?!"

"You got it, Harley." Monokuma said, chuckling.

Nathan glared at Franklin.

"… Now do you know what's at stake if you pin this on me?" He said.

"Hmph. Such a foolish fool…" Franklin responded, then pointed at Nathan and said, "I will expose you as the blackened, you murderer. Mark my words."

"Well, if you really want to get us all killed, then go for it." Nathan responded, "I don't give a fuck."

"Now…" Monokuma interjected, "During this trial, you will all present the evidence you collected by plugging your phones into the podiums and opening the Student Handbook app. Once you do that, you'll be able to select the evidence you gathered, and display it on the screen above."

He nudged UsagiKuma, who snapped to, then said with a fake smile on her face, "T-technology is truly wonderous nowadays, isn't it?"

"Anyways…" Monokuma continued, "Once you're sure who the killer is, you vote for whoever you think the killer is, and if the votes match who the killer is, then as I said before, the killer dies, and all of you live. But if it's wrong… Then all of you die and the killer lives and is able to graduate!"

"But, Mister Monokuma…" Liza said, "We're not in school… How can we graduate if we're not in a school?"

"Eh, details, details…" Monokuma said dismissively, "Let's get this trial started already!"

 **Class Trial Start!**

 **All Rise!**

"So…" Liza said, "… Did one of us really kill miss Samantha?"

"Of course they did…" Franklin said, then pointed at Nathan and added, "And we all know who the real killer is, don't we-"

"Franklin, why don't you shut your fucking mouth!" Clarissa shouted suddenly, glaring at him.

I glanced at Clarissa, taken completely off-guard by that sudden outburst.

As soon as Clarissa's glare came, it soon disappeared as she gained a worried, fearful expression.

"… S-sorry! I didn't mean to yell and swear!" she said, holding her head with her hands.

"Careful, little mermaid…" Franklin responded coolly, "And be fortunate that you weren't in a regular courtroom with me on the prosecution bench. I would have you arrested for contempt of court in a heartbeat."

"You seem eager to throw the book at Nathan…" Daniel spoke up, "… how do we know _You're_ not the killer?"

"Oh, grow up." Franklin responded, rolling his eyes, "Why would I kill someone as basic as Samantha? It's completely preposterous. Ludicrous, even!"

"Besides…" George pointed out, "Most of th' evidence points to Nathan, it does."

"Says the bank robber who always gets away scot-free jus' because his daddy's a cop." Martin responded.

"Watch it, lava-lover." George snapped, "Or you're gonna find yourself with an eye blacker than volcanic glass."

I looked down at my list of evidence on my Student handbook app on my phone.

It was true.

A lot of the evidence seemed to point to Nathan being the killer…

… But isn't that the killer's plan all along?

To murder Sam and pin it on Nathan, since he seems to have the most motive for it?

I suppose this is where it begins…

 **Non-Stop Debate!**

"Come on." Cecilia said, smirking, "It's obvious Nathan is the killer!"

"And jus' how do you know dat?" Kelly responded, "Don' ya need proof for a claim like dat?"

"Of course I have proof!" Cecilia said, smirking, "Don't you remember the bloody knuckle knife? **A United States Army Commando could have easily wielded that expertly and beat and stabbed poor Samantha to death!"**

Almost like lightning, I stood up straight and like a bullet being fired from a gun, I suddenly shouted, " **YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!"**

 **Counter!**

Cecilia recoiled at this, surprised by the outburst.

"And what makes you say that, Bambina?" she snapped, glaring.

"It seems a little too easy to just pin that fact on Nathan just because he's in the Army." I said, "Let's consider the facts first. After all…"

My finger hovered over the recording of Nathan's testimony on my phone.

"… Nathan has an alibi." I said, then selected the recording, making it play on the speakers on the screens above.

 _"Anyways, when I went into Sam's room, I decided to do some reading, so I had brought a book I got from the book store in the underground mall, that being Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and just decided to read it until I was tired enough for bed. Of course, around 10:37 pm, I heard a loud thud come from behind the wall separating Sam's room from mine, almost like something or someone was slammed into it."_

"Not only that…" I added, then brought up the picture of the door labels, "But someone switched the door labels on both Nathan and Sam's rooms."

"Okay, well, tell me this, senorita…" Cecilia retorted, "… Who switched the door labels?"

"Well…" I said, "For this, I turn to Joey."

I glanced at Joey, who brought up a picture of the Tactical knife.

"Me and Mana-Chan found this under the couch on Nathan's room." Joey said, "It had a bit of blood on the blade, which can only mean that Sam must've not only had this on her at the time of her death, but she also used it to fight back!"

"That would make sense…" Liza said, nodding, "After all, didn't Mister Nathan say that he heard a thud on the wall between his and Miss Sam's rooms?"

"It is true indeed, little one." Vivi said, twirling her Egyptian scepter a moment, then smiling, "Which means that Samantha must have engaged in quite the struggle with her killer."

"Question is…" Johan mused, "… how much _did_ she fight back?"

 **Non-Stop Debate!**

"Watchoo talkin' 'bout Willis?" Joey asked, doing a piss-poor Gary Coleman impression.

"I can answer that…" Franklin spoke, bringing up a bit of evidence of his own on the screen.

The evidence was a clump of hair and part of a tooth in the trash can in the bathroom of Sam's suite.

"… What is this, even?" Joey asked, "Did Sam trim her pubes or something?"

"No, you moron…" Franklin deadpanned, "I mean that even if Samantha fought back, it wouldn't have done much good considering her muscles were degraded do to atrophy from her bulimia."

"Hey!" I shouted, but Franklin held up his finger to silence me, then went on.

"Even if Samantha were to fight back, she would have been easily overpowered… So, due to the severity of her facial injuries, she would have had to be struck by someone with immense strength or expert fighting ability."

He pointed at Nathan and Yuri.

"Considering your talents, you two seem like the perfect suspects for this." He said.

"Are you fucking retarded?" Nathan snapped, "Manako Literally just said I had an airtight alibi."

"And I too have an alibi…" Yuri added, "… I was with Comrade Liza, helping her to sleep."

"It's true…" Liza said, "… I haven't been sleeping lately since the killing game began due to me having nightmares, and Mister Yuri helped me to sleep better by singing me a Russian Lullaby his grandmother used to sing to him…"

She then gained a determined expression, then added, "And there's no way he could have killed Miss Sam last night even if he wanted to!"

"Well, shit…" Danny said, shrugging, " **I guess we're out of suspects, then… We're gonna fucking die, I just know it…"**

It was at that, that I suddenly recalled something.

"YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!" I shouted, just like before.

 **Counter!**

"Actually, Daniel…" I said, "We still have a few suspects left, and not only that, but there's still some evidence that hasn't been accounted for yet."

" **OBJECTION!"** Franklin shouted, pointing at me in a Phoenix Wright-like manner.

 **Counter!**

"You are correct when you say that, Manako…" Franklin said, smirking, "However… There is a problem with your earlier submission when you showed us Nathan's testimony…"

He brought up a picture of a stereo in Nathan's room, which happened to be placed right in front of the wall between his and Sam's room.

There appeared to be a crack in one of the speakers, as well as one of the buttons on the front of it looking like it had been forcefully pressed.

"… So what?" I asked, "What does a stereo have to do with this?"

"It has everything to do with this." Franklin spoke, "For you see…"

He brought up another picture, this one being of a line-shaped mark on Sam's neck.

Then he brought up a third picture of a hot pink smartphone charger cord that was curled in a way that looked like it had been coiled around something tightly.

"… The killer used this to try and kill Sam at first…" he explained, "However, despite her atrophied muscles and body weight, Sam was able to fight the killer off of her, managing to slam him against the stereo a few times, thus turning it on and blasting this song on it…"

He selected a bit of audio evidence he gathered, which made 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' by Meatloaf begin to play briefly.

"Notice how loud this song is…" He said, "If Nathan did indeed only hear a thud against the wall, then he would have heard this song as well due to the fact that during the struggle, the volume was turned all the way up!"

Dammit…

That must have been what Franklin meant earlier when he said he found 'decisive evidence'…

"Monako…"

I glanced over at Nathan, who was looking at me with a disapproving expression on his face.

"… Nathan, you-" I began, but Nathan pointed at my phone, which was still plugged into my podium.

I looked at the screen, and saw that I just got a notification that read as follows:

" **You have just received new evidence from Col. Nathan Sampson**

 **Do you wish to look at it?"**

I blinked, then looked over at Nathan.

"Honestly…" he said, in a voice low enough to not be heard by the others, but loud enough for me to hear, "If I have to babysit you every single trial and case of this killing game, then I don't care that you're a girl or a youtuber; I _will_ kick your goddamn teeth in without warning or cause. Now…"

He leaned in close to me, then continued.

"This Johnny Cochran wannabe's Testimony is full of more holes than a fine swiss cheese… If he keeps this up, he's gonna get all of us killed and he's gonna allow the killer to walk… I honestly would've thought that being as opportunistic as you are, you would've been taking more opportunities to puncture more holes in this guy's case, but no, you're just standin' around like a Soy Boy Beta Male and just letting this guy fuck everything up."

"what're you saying?" I whispered.

"Monako…" Nathan responded, "… I think I have a good idea of who the killer is… But I want to see if you can figure it out first before I say anything… Now… If you're going to expose the killer, you _have_ to go on the offensive."

"How do I do that?" I asked.

"For fuck's sake, Monako…" Nathan responded, "Why th' fuck do you think I shared some of the evidence I found myself with you? As a fucking peace offering?"

I blinked, as if considering that's what it was for a moment.

"Heh… Get real." Nathan responded, "As if I'd make peace with you… However, despite this, I will not tolerate you getting us all killed just because you're feeling sad about two of your hoe-bag friends being dead. Now…"

He reached over and pressed the 'open' option on the notification, bringing up three key pieces of evidence.

"Look over these as quickly as you can and memorize them so you can puncture this guy's bullshit testimony like a .50 caliber sniper round through a bulletproof window." He said, "Expose this killer. If you do that, then that's it. No amount of faulty Grand Juries or pressure from Political groups would be able to save them. They're done. You get your justice for Sam. Now, are you gonna stand there like a Goon and let this guy fuck everything up, or are you going to expose the truth and catch the killer?"

I blinked, but nodded, then said, "… I… I'll do it… I'll do it for Sam…"

"Comforting to know you're good for something…" Nathan responded, "Now get cracking. Solve this case so we can all go back to our hotel rooms and fuck off for the rest of the evening."

I nodded, then began to look over the new evidence.

The first was a picture of some bloody gauze bandages that were found in a trash can right near the scene of the crime.

 **Truth Bullet shared: Bloody bandages**

The second was a picture of the wall separating Sam's room from Nathan's.

 **Truth Bullet shared: Semi-soundproof walls**

the third was a broken off fingernail that looked like it had a bit of blood and skin stuck on it.

 **Truth Bullet Share: Sam's fingernail**

And the final one was a transcript of a testimony taken from Liza.

 **Truth Bullet shared: Liza's account**

After looking at the new evidence, I now had everything I needed…

I had this guy in my sights…

 **Non-Stop Debate: Marksman Duty!**

As I listened to Franklin go on with his testimony, I looked at the touch screen at my podium and noticed sniper crosshairs appear on all the sentences in the 'debate log'

Each time a sentence appeared, a greyed-out sniper crosshair would appear on it.

I waited during the debate for the opportunity to strike…

"So you see…" Franklin carried on, "This crucial bit of evidence proves that not only was Nathan lying, but also the fact that his alibi seems a little too convenient, wouldn't you all agree?"

"It's true…" Belle said, "It would seem a little too easy for him to say that he was reading in Sam's room when the murder took place **then be seen entering his room at the time of the crime."**

When I saw this sentence appear on the transcript, the greyed-out crosshair turned green, and I quickly pressed on it.

"NO, THAT'S WRONG!" I suddenly shouted, "I'VE GOT YOU IN MY SIGHTS!"

The crosshair turned red, a bit-crushed sniper shot was heard on my touch screen, shattering the transcript of that statement.

"Wh-what do you mean by that, Mana-Chan?" Belle asked, stunned by my sudden outburst.

"Don't pay her any mind, your highness…" Franklin shrugged, "She's just trying to show off."

"No, I can prove that Nathan's alibi checks out!" I asserted firmly.

"And how can you do that, YouTuber?" Franklin asked smugly, "Go on, please… You have my full attention… That's what you strive for as a YouTuber, is it not?"

I then clicked on Liza's testimony, then brought up the audio log.

"Wait, isn't that from when Mister Nathan asked me about what I saw last night?" Liza wondered aloud, confused.

"More importantly…" Franklin added, "… Isn't that evidence that only Nathan had access to?"

"Actually…" I said, "Nathan shared several pieces of evidence he collected earlier with me."

"And you didn't think to disclose that?" Franklin said, snapping the fingers on his right hand in a dramatic manner, "Hmph. A foolish gesture…"

He looked to Monokuma, then said, "Monokuma, I wish to request that the evidence Nathan has shared with Manako be stricken from the case."

"Actually…" Monokuma said, "That's a function that your student handbook has during trials. It's basically just overglorified disclosure anyway, so it's pretty much fair game."

"What?!" Franklin growled, looking genuinely angry.

"Sorry Von Karma, but you just got outdone!" Monokuma laughed.

"Shall I play the recording, class?" I asked the others, smirking.

I then pressed play on the recording.

" _I woke up late at night needing to… Well, get new sheets from the housekeeping closet on the suite floor since… Well, I wet the bed… Anyways, my watch read 10:37, so I went down the hall to the housekeeping closet, and around that time, I saw Nathan going down the hallway from the direction of his room… He looked upset… Angry, even…"_

"So?" Franklin responded, "That just proves that Nathan was at the scene of the crime after the murder took place!"

"Hey, I'm not finished!" I shouted, then glanced at Liza, then smiled gently and asked, "Liza-Chan, would you mind showing the class your watch?"

"Sure." Liza said, passing the watch around the class to show what time it read on it.

"Tell me, Liza…" I said once she finished, "What time does it say on your watch?"

"9:26 PM." Liza answered.

"Now…" I said, "Everyone check the clocks on your phones and tell me what time it is right now…"

Everyone checked the clocks on their phones, getting mixed reactions.

Sure enough, it was actually 11:35 PM.

"Nathan…" I asked Nathan, "What were you doing at 12:26 Midnight?"

"I went to check on Sam to see if she was okay…" Nathan responded, "Of course, I sort of delayed checking on her due to the thud I heard against the wall due to personal prejudices, so I ended up finally checking on her at 12 midnight. That was when I discovered Sam's body before anyone else did. That, combined with another factor, was when it dawned on me that Sam had been murdered an hour ago…"

"So…" Liza said, frowning, "You mean my watch is wrong?"

"No, it's just an hour slow." I reassured Liza, smiling gently, "I'll show you how to fix tomorrow if you want?"

"Sure!" Liza chirped, beaming, "Anything for you, Big Sis Manako!"

"Get to the point, Kumara!" Franklin shouted.

"The point…" I said, bringing up an audio log of Alice's testimony, "Is this!"

I played Alice's testimony for the entire class;

 _"also, last night, I remember going out to get a drink from the vendin' machines, and I ran into two people during that time. Th' first was Vivian. I ran into her at about 10:30 pm. She said she was getting some ice since she was out of it in her room. Then, at around 10:46 pm, when I went to go to th' convenience store in th' underground mall to get an ice cream sandwich before it closed, I saw Daniel out and about, I did. He didn't say much. He just sorta walked past me. I saw Daniel twice, though, is th' thing… Th' first time I saw him going past th' entrance to the underground mall carrying something, and th' second time, I saw him on the glass elevator in th' atrium, no longer carryin' anythin'."_

Everyone seemed genuinely shocked, but the one person who seemed to be more effected by this, even if it didn't seem like it on a surface level…

… Was Daniel.

"Looks like you got the culprit's attention…" Nathan whispered to me, "Now launch an all-out assault on this assclown! Full force!"

I nodded to Nathan, then turned to Daniel and said, "Daniel… out of everyone here, you've been somewhat less chatty… Tell me… what _were_ you doing at the time of Sam's murder?"

"H-HOLD ON A SECOND!" Daniel shouted suddenly, his expression becoming uncharacteristically defensive, "What're you trying to imply, lady?"

"Oh really?" I asked, tilting my head, smirking, "Then tell us… I mean, if you've got nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear."

Daniel trembled a bit, then spoke.

"I… I was out getting a drink…" he said, feigning a calm, patient smile, "Nothing strange about that, is there?"

"Tell me something, Daniel-San…" I said, "… What's your favorite overall flavor of sports drink?"

"Fruit punch, obviously." He said, "I bet anyone here can attest to that, so if that's the case, you gonna accuse everyone else, too?"

"Naw. Just you." I said, then brought up a picture of the plastic cup in Nathan's room that had a sports drink in it.

Daniel's facade of calm patience faltered a bit.

"Tell us again, Daniel-San…" I said, smirking, "… What were you doing at the time of Sam's murder?"

"I… I can't believe this…" Daniel said, then glared daggers at me, then shouted, "You're gonna pin this shit on me and get us all killed?! How fucking high on your own fumes are you, you stuck-up cam whore?!"

"This is it, Manako…" Nathan whispered to me, smirking, "… You've got him. Now finish this dirtbag off."

I nodded to Nathan, then looked right into Daniel's eyes, "Daniel… you are the only one of any of our suspects that does not have an alibi."

"He's a suspect?" Joey asked, confused.

"I'll get to that." I told Joey.

"Manako…" Daniel said, smirking insecurely, "You're seriously doing this right now? Do you even realize what I have to lose if I die?"

"You mean Sienna Donnely, right?" I asked firmly.

"..!" Daniel faltered, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"… Daniel…" I said firmly, "… I know you care about Sienna… I know you would literally move the moon and stars for her and her mother… You would do anything to make sure they're safe…"

I then looked Daniel right in the eye.

"… That's why you need to come clean and tell the truth…" I told him.

Daniel trembled a bit, clutching at his podium tightly.

"…. I think I can clear up any doubt about Daniel's lack of an alibi…" Nathan said, then brought up a picture of the screen of a note written on a notepad in Sam's room.

It read:

 _Daniel_

 _I wanted to talk to you alone about the video you saw._

 _Can you swing by my suite at 10:30-ish PM?_

 _I'd really appreciate it~_

 _-Sam_

There was a drawing of a heart next to the words 'Appreciate it' as well.

"Just to be clear…" Nathan said to the group, "What time did the murder actually occur?"

"10:40 pm." I said, then smiled and said to Nathan, "And what time did you hear a thud on the semi-soundproof wall separating your room from Sam's?"

"10:35 pm." Nathan answered, smirking.

"And tell me, Daniel-San…" I said to Daniel, "… During your career as a professional, Olympic-level Hockey player… How many times would you say you've gotten in fist fights during a game?"

"I don't need to answer that!" Daniel snapped.

"You're correct." I retorted, "You don't. The evidence is saying everything that you won't."

I then clacked my high heels against the floor.

 **Truthful Angel's Thesis!**

"Here's what I think went down…" I began, "Sam discreetly left Daniel a note saying that she wanted to meet him in her room, however, what Daniel didn't know is that Sam and Nathan switched rooms for the night, but, once she was sure Nathan wouldn't bother her during the meeting, she swapped the nametags on the room doors, making it seem like she was in her room all along.

"After that, she hid the tactical knife she got from the Military surplus store earlier that day in a place where she could get to it easily, then, bought fruit punch-flavored Powerade, and also digging through some oldies to play on her stereo to 'set the mood' choosing of course, Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell album, setting it to play a song from the album at random at the push of a button. However, she also finished charging her phone, and as such left the charger cord laying out.

"Now, here's where things get interesting: Daniel arrived at Sam's room at 10:30 on the dot. They had a brief exchange, and it would seem like Daniel might very well have been getting lucky that night. However… Sam had other plans… She lured Daniel there to kill him. But, unbeknownst to her, Daniel was a step ahead, as when she turned around to pour him a cup of his favorite sports drink, Daniel snatched the charger cord for Sam's phone, then attempted to choke her out using it like a makeshift garotte wire!

"Despite her atrophied body muscle, however, Sam managed to fight back quite well, and had even managed to slam Daniel against the stereo a few times, turning on the stereo and making it play 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' in the process. Eventually, she managed to get him off of her by scratching one of his hands with her nails, breaking one of them off in the process, and also taking with them a few trace amounts of Daniel's skin on his hand.

"Realizing it was now or never, Sam quickly drew the tactical knife from it's hiding spot, deploying the blade with the speed of a Black Ops Commando, but wielding it with the expertise of an inner-city mugger. She swiped at him a few times with the knife, and it seems, managed to tag Daniel's hand a bit judging by the small trace of blood that was found on the knife blade. Despite this, however, Daniel was the more skilled fighter, as, desperate to fend her off, he grabbed the knuckle knife off of it's display rack on the shelf, then quickly stabbed Sam in the stomach, catching her off-guard.

"He could've just left it there, but he didn't. Instead, Daniel punched Sam multiple times in the face using the knuckle handle of the knife, but at one point, she must have caught his hand, attempting to disarm him.

"Then… Seeing the award on the shelf, he grabbed it, and slammed it into the side of Sam's face, sending her falling face-first into the glass coffee table, shattering it, and killing her, thus ending her acting career once and for all…

"Of course, knowing full well he'd just committed murder, he had to cover his tracks, so, he hid the knuckle knife to deal with later, then picked up the award, and the jersey he wore when he first got here, being sure to treat his wounds and also switch to a clean jersey, then tossed the award in the trash compactor and the jersey into the trash incinerator, failing to notice, of course, that one of the sleeves didn't quite make it into the incinerator."

I pointed at Daniel, then said, "Daniel Grievky… SHSL Centerman… Captain of the United States Olympic Hockey team that beat the Russian Hockey Team in the Sochi Winter Olympics… And of course… Self-proclaimed protector of Sienna Donnely and her mother… You… You murdered Samantha Cutler!"

Daniel trembled, look at me with a fearful gaze, like a trapped animal pinned against a wall.

That… Was when his façade finally broke…

"… I…" he said, tears coming to his eye, jerking his gaze away.

He clutched his podium tightly, his hands shaking.

"Daniel…" I said to him sternly, "… I know you never intended to kill Sam… But I also know something happened between yesterday and the time of the meeting Sam told you in her note… Something changed… And I want to know what it is…"

Daniel breathed shaky breaths, trembling.

For the first time, I saw the confident, thoughtful SHSL Centerman, a man who said he did not fear the man abusing the girl he loved… trembling with fear and uncertainty.

Finally, Daniel straightened, his expression going solemn.

"… I'll tell you what happened…" he said, then opened something up on his phone and showed it on the evidence screen, "… I got sent _this…"_

He selected a video frankly titled 'Bonus Motive', then played it.

When the video began playing, it started out with a triumphant-sounding jingle that sounded like it would be played upon completion of a Crash Bandicoot stage, with the text 'Bonus Motive' appearing on screen in rainbow lettering.

At that point, the scene shifted to Monokuma standing in front of a green screen, clapping his hands as the 'Invincibility' theme from the Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog game began to play in the background.

" _Bonus motive!_ Monokuma cheered, _"We have time for Bonus Motive!"_

The music shifted to a more calming, royalty-free tune.

" _Lucky you, Daniel-San."_ Monokuma said, obviously talking to Daniel, " _We have time for bonus motive. And what better motive for you, Daniel, than this;"_

The screen transitioned again to security footage taken obviously from somewhere else.

It showed Sienna Donnely, wiping some sweat off of her with a towel while walking towards the door to a fitness room, seeming to stop a moment, as if thinking.

" _Sienna Donnely, the SHSL Figure Skater…"_ Said Monokuma's voice in the narration, " _… Is eagerly waiting to be reuinited with her friend Daniel Grievky, the SHSL Centerman, after he promised to 'talk to her about something important' when he got back from his weekend seminar… But… He never came back from the weekend seminar… And now she's all alone…"_

The footage showed Sienna then walking towards the door to the fitness room, then opening it, then cut to a shot of her being startled by something off-screen.

When that happened, it cut away to Monokuma in front of the Green Screen again.

" _What happened next?"_ Monokuma mocked, then pointed at the camera, then said, " _Graduate in order to find out!"_

The video then ended there.

At this, my gaze shifted to Monokuma.

"… So that's what you meant by 'Public motive'…" I said, feeling a well of anger bubbling up inside me.

"So that's what this was about…" George mused, looking at Daniel coldly, "A fucking girl… Are you fucking mental, you twat?"

"Hold on!" Daniel shouted, "You haven't got a clue as to what this is about!"

"Oh really?" Nathan responded, folding his arms and glaring at Daniel unsympathetically, "'Cause to me, it seems like you killed someone, tried to frame me, then tried to get the rest of us killed just so you could get out of here to your girlfriend.

"There's more to it, you gung-ho dick!" Daniel shouted.

"Then tell us, you disorganized puddle of amphibian shit!" Nathan bellowed, "I wanna hear this, personally!"

"I wanted to see if she was safe from her father!" Daniel shouted.

There was an eerie silence in the room.

"… Sienna's father… Abuses her…" Daniel said, sighing, a little calmer in tone, "… Physically… Since I got here, I've done nothing but worry about her safety… Because every minute I spend here her father could be beating her face in over a bedpost… I knew what I needed to do… But… Could I really do it? Could I really kill someone?"

"I think the evidence speaks louder than any confession…" I said suddenly, "… Although, I think the fact that you told me you would do anything for Sienna and her mother speaks louder than any confession you could ever give…"

There was another silence, then I said, "… Monokuma… I think we're ready to vote."

"If you say so, Lady Paul." Monokuma said, "Everyone open up the voting window on your apps and vote for who you think the killer is!"

"Well, I know who I'm voting for…" Nathan spoke, "That's for damn fucking sure…"

I opened the app, seeing the portraits of all the students still alive arranged on the screen, then selected Daniel, knowing full well that many of the others were selecting the same thing.

After everyone had voted, Monokuma clapped his hands twice.

"Alright, you bastards, your votes are in, and the lucky winner is…"

He pressed a button on a remote, making the big screen show a slot machine, which rolled through various students before all three rollers landed on portraits of Daniel, at which point the screen showed fireworks shooting on the screen, confetti flying about, American flags waving about, and had the text 'WINNER' show up on the screen in red, white, and blue lettering while Monokuma flew across the screen on a bald eagle, holding an assault rifle in one hand, a hotdog in the other, and wearing a black and white hat with the phrase 'Make Despair Great Again' written on it.

"Oh wow, it's unanimous, even!" Monokuma said, "You don't see that in this country often! But hey, you kids got it right! I actually doubted you brats had the mental competency and attention span to do so, between the YouTuber, the Pewdiepie Wannabe, the Korean Disney movie in human form, and Mr. Hockey Pedofork over there. Now, let's see just what really happened…"

The big screen then began to play security camera footage of the murder itself.

 **What Really Happened…**

I saw Sam walk back in her room quickly, supposedly from switching the door labels, then she opened a drawer in the writing desk in the room, pulling out the same folding tactical knife we found under her couch.

Hearing a knock on her door, she called out to whoever was at the door.

" _Coming!"_ she called, then stashed the knife behind a lamp on kitchenette counter, getting out a pair of plastic cups, and also a bottle of fruit punch Powerade from the kitchenette fridge.

Then, after setting up the stereo, and after doing a quick brush-up on her appearance, she was ready.

She opened the door to her room.

" _You wanted to see me about the video?"_ Daniel asked, looking puzzled.

" _Oh, yes."_ Sam said, stepping aside to allow Daniel entry, " _Please, come in…"_

Daniel stepped in the room, seeming to stare around the room a bit as Sam made her way to the kitchenette counter.

" _So, this is about the video, right?"_ Daniel asked.

" _Oh?"_ Sam said, smiling at Daniel in a flirty way, " _What gives you that impression? Who's to say I just wanted to get to know you better?"_

Daniel shrugged, then pulled out a slip of paper, obviously the note from before.

" _I got your note earlier…"_ he said, " _And you mentioned a 'video' of some kind?"_

" _Oh, that…"_ Sam sighed, " _Well… I got sent this weird video on my phone yesterday, and when I saw you looking pale as a ghost after looking at something on your phone today, I knew that we were in the same boat… You could say…"_

Sam's expression darkened for a moment.

"… _. That I felt 'motivated' to seek out some company for tonight…"_ she spoke.

Her expression softened again as she went over to the kitchenette counter once more, then said, " _So, you want something to drink? I got your favorite flavor of Powerade."_

" _Uhhh… Sure, that's fine…"_ Daniel responded, seeming to look around the room a moment.

Sam giggled, then turned her back on Daniel as she began to pour the sports drink into two separate cups, humming the song 'Getting to Know You' from the musical The King and I.

However, during this time when Sam's back was turned, Daniel quickly picked up Sam's charger cord for her phone, held it like a WWII-era French spy would hold a garotte wire, then quickly got right behind Sam and looped the cord around Sam's neck, catching the Starlet off-guard and attempting to choke her out with it.

Sam quickly held a few fingers on her right hand between the cord and her throat in an attempt to stave off the strangulation, but Daniel was much stronger than her, pulling the cord tighter and tighter as Sam's face began to turn blue from asphyixiation.

" _You honestly think you can fool me with that shit?"_ Daniel growled, " _Come on… I'm not stupid, you know…"_

Seeing that Daniel wasn't going to let go of her easier, and also due to her poor body strength, Sam quickly slammed Daniel back into the stereo a few times, making 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' by Meatloaf begin to play on it, and then when she slammed him into the stereo one more time, the volume would be turned up quite a bit, and it wouldn't be until Sam scratched Daniel's hand with her one free hand a few times until she both drew blood and broke one of her nails that would finally cause Daniel to release Sam.

Sam grasped at the counter for support as she gasped for air that she had almost been robbed of.

She growled.

" _You little chauvinistic male pig!"_ she snarled, then quickly pulled the knife from behind the lamp, then deployed the blade before swiping it at him, trying to hit him once or twice.

However, her atrophied muscles betrayed her once more, as she only managed to barely graze the back of Daniel's left hand, at which point she panted, seeming out of breath and holding onto the counter for support.

This was when Daniel picked up the knuckle knife that was on display on the shelf, then brandished it, holding it with the blade pointed inwards.

Sam attempted to get close to Daniel to slash at him, but Daniel was quicker, and he quickly stabbed Sam in the stomach with the knife, causing her to gasp in shock as blood trickled out of her mouth.

Daniel quickly pulled the knife out as Sam dropped her knife and clutched her stomach, then, Daniel brandished the knuckler on the knife and began swiftly and repeatedly punching Sam's face with it, managing to break her nose entirely, make a gash on her head, and of course, giving her a huge, swollen black eye that had swollen her eye shut.

However, it was when Daniel tried to punch Sam once more that Sam, desperate, caught Daniel's hand before he could bring the knuckler on the knife to her face again, then wrestled the knife out of his hand, obviously using the experience she had from filming superhero movies. Daniel picked up the award, then smashed it against Sam's face, knocking her around in a circle before sending her falling face-first into the nearby glass coffee table, shattering the glass and killing her.

It was at that point that Daniel looked like he had right then and there realized the gravity of what he had done, trembling from both shock and adrenaline as he tossed the knife and the award aside.

"… _Oh my God… What have I done?"_ Daniel said, trembling with shock.

At that point, the footage ended, and Monokuma was cackling madly.

Pretty much everyone besides myself, Nathan, and Daniel were stunned speechless.

"Welp, I guess you all know what comes next!" Monokuma laughed.

"Before you do…" Daniel said, taking off his gold medal and setting it down on his podium, "There's something I need to know… A last request, I guess you could call it…"

"And what might that be?" Monokuma asked, as if he already didn't know.

"… I need to know…" Daniel said, "… If… If Sienna is okay… I need to know if she's safe… If she's… Alive..."

"Before you do…" Daniel said, taking off his gold medal and setting it down on his podium, "There's something I need to know… A last request, I guess you could call it…"

"And what might that be?" Monokuma asked, as if he already didn't know.

"… I need to know…" Daniel said, "… If… If Sienna is okay… I need to know if she's safe… If she's… Alive..."

Monokuma thought a moment, then said, "… Naw."

"What?!" Daniel exclaimed, "But why?"

"Because I don't feel like it." Monokuma said, "And besides, doesn't it despair you even more not knowing if your girlfriend is okay or not?"

Daniel had a horrified, despaired expression on his face at that.

"… Daniel-San…" I said, approaching him, "… I…"

"… Monako…" Daniel said to me, regaining a bit of composure, "… I know I won't live to see Sienna ever again… But…"

He took off his Gold medal, then handed it to me.

"… When you manage to get out of here… If you can find her somehow… I want you to give this to Sienna… So she can know I failed her…"

I held the Medal in my hands, silent a moment.

"… I'll do my best…" I said, nodding.

"Awwww, ain't that sweet?" Monokuma chuckled, then said, "Oh well, they can't all be happy endings! **Ittttttttssssss Punishment time!** "

Daniel braced himself for whatever punishment was to befall him.

Monokuma cackled loudly as a large red button rose up in front of his chair, which he banged on with a gavel, making a screen similar to the one that showed up when Mariko was executed for shooting Monokuma.

 _Daniel Grievky has been found Guilty!_

 _Commencing punishment!_

 _ **Punishment Time:**_

 _ **Love-Struck Popsicle**_

 _ **(For the execution music, just imagine a mash-up between Punishment Time: Hell-icopter SDR2 and Flashdance… What a Feeling by Irene Cara. Just imagine it being like a mixture of the two that occasionally switches out for What a Feeling, then switches Hell-icopter back in)**_

 **Daniel was lowered down a long platform elevator to what appeared to be a large ice rink of some kind, with Monokuma units watching from the grandstands, and while a Monokuma film crew pointed TV cameras at him.**

 **At this, a familiar face skated over to him on the ice.**

"… **Sienna?" Daniel said, his eyes wide.**

 **It was Sienna, but something seemed 'off' about her…**

 **She spoke not a word, but began figure skating around Daniel gracefully, all without opening her eyes once.**

 **Daniel watched her do this, lovestruck and blushing as he had hope that maybe she was alive.**

 **After a few laps of skating around Daniel, Sienna got up close to him, then gave him a long, passionate kiss on the mouth, which initially caught him off-guard, but he seemed to go along with it.**

 **Suddenly, Sienna broke the kiss, then took a few steps away from Daniel.**

 **It was the that she opened her eyes, revealing one of them was colored a bright red, and not only that, but she was grinning a wide, unnatural evil grin.**

 **At that point, 'Sienna' tugged on her own hair with one hand…**

… **Revealing that it was really Monokuma in a full-body suit of Sienna, and that he was just straight-up fucking with him.**

 **Also, SiennaKuma then stomped one of her skates against the ice, making the ice around a scared and confused Daniel crack and eventually break completely, plunging him into freezing-cold water.**

 **Eventually, he popped out of the new hole in the ice encased in a large ice block, very likely dead from freezing to death.**

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Myself and the other students watched this in shock and awe.

Even George seemed to have trouble taking this in.

I didn't even look or listen when Monokuma taunted us and left.

I basically tuned the entire world around me out as I clutched Daniel's medal in my hand tightly.

I heard what sounded like someone talking to me.

"Manako."

I looked over and saw Nathan standing there.

"… Come on…" he said, sighing, "… I'll walk you to your room…"

I said nothing, but nodded at Nathan.

After what felt like the longest elevator ride in my life, followed by the second longest elevator ride of my life, most of us dispersed to our rooms after we arrived on the luxury suite floor.

Nathan walked me to my room, as he said he would.

"… You gonna be alright?" he asked.

"… Why do you suddenly care?" I responded.

"I figured I was doing you a solid by at least asking how you were after basically sending the murderer of your best friend to an over the top ironic death…" Nathan shrugged, "But, if you're really just gonna be that way, then I guess my work here is done…"

He began to walk away, at which point I called after him.

"W-wait!" I called, but he responded, "Nnope! Too late. I tried being the bigger man, but clearly you're beyond forgiveness."

Before too long, he was out of my range, and I sighed, entering my suite and sitting down on my bed.

I know I should be feeling good that I exposed Sam's Killer… But… the thing is… I don't…

Something still felt wrong and I couldn't help but wonder what it was.

I sighed, then decided to open up my laptop to make a video.

When I did, however, I noticed that Windows File Explorer was opened in a minimized tab.

Curious, I opened up file explorer, and noticed I had a new video file on my computer.

It was titled 'They Can't all be Happy Endings'.

I got an intense feeling of dread as I opened up the file and played the video.

It showed Sienna running into a girl a few years older than she, with blonde hair in a neat ponytail, freckles scattered across her cheeks, and wearing a light blue button-up shirt with an unbuttoned brown vest over it coated in buttons of all varieties, a pair of brown shorts and light brown sneakers.

Sienna jumped a bit from being startled by the girl.

" _Gah! Oh. B-Brenda, don't scare me like that_." Sienna breathed out holding her free hand to her chest.

Brenda chuckled lightly. " _Sorry Sienna. I didn't mean to. I was just asked by Mikayla to watch out for you."_

Sienna looked at her with a confused look in her eyes. Her voice emanated that same confusion. " _T-This late?"_

" _Well yeah. She's worried that something will happen after what transpired down in the cafeteria so she wanted to make sure you'd be okay. I'd be more than happy to escort you get back to your room if you'd like. Come on_." Brenda said, smiling.

Although, judging by how this was playing out so far, I couldn't help but feel that this Brenda girl was aiming to cause trouble.

Sienna looked down, not moving as I noticed her hand tightly grip her hand towel. Brenda noticed Sienna hadn't moved when her head looked back. " _Sienna? Are you alright?"_

" _Y-You're lying_." Sienna suddenly said.

Brenda seemed to look stunned. "What? Sienna, why would you say that?"

Sienna's head raised up her eyes glared at Brenda accusingly which instantly made Brenda's smile deteriorate. " _If Big Sis Kayla was worried she'd be here to watch out for me, not you. Or at least she'd be with you. You being here by yourself proves what you said was a lie."_

Silence between the two would probably confirm her suspicion as she continued. " _Y-You're here to kill me... aren't you?"_

Brenda's silence in the video spoke more about her intentions than any number of spoken words.

" _I knew it_..." She whispered before she shook and began screaming. " _I-I knew it!"_

" _Sienna! Please let me explain!"_ Brenda begged but Sienna threw her jacket and towel at her.

" _No! I don't want to hear it!"_ Sienna screeched, " _I don't want you to tell me why! I know wh-why! It's because I'm weak! You want to take advantage of me because I haven't been able to defend myself. I always rely on others when things get too tough for me. Mommy has, Kayla has, even Daniel has tried to protect me! But I am thr-through being the weakling everyone think they can push around! You w-wanna kill me? F-Fine! Then you're gonna have to f-fight for it!"_ Sienna then lunged at Brenda with the speed and ferocity of a trapped animal being cornered by it's natural predator.

Now, since she is the 'SHSL Figure Skater', I immediately factored in Sienna's overall athletic ability, as she had basically leapt at Brenda from quite a distance away from her. I could tell she must have had some intense muscle power in her legs to have as much speed and balance to pull off all the leaps, jumps, twirls, and tricks Figureskaters are known for.

Now, like with Sam, I suspected that even that wouldn't be enough to successfully fend off an attacker, but surprisingly, Sienna was holding her own against Brenda quite nicely, but again, like with Sam, Sienna's strength eventually betrayed her, and Brenda shoved Sienna against a nearby wall.

At this point, I didn't know what to expect, but I did fear the worst.

Brenda reached into her back pocket and charged at Sienna.

As Sienna attempted to recover, I saw Brenda jam what appeared to be an EpiPen filled with a blackish-brown liquid inside it into Sienna's neck, causing her to scream in pain. Brenda quickly began to inject the blackish-brown liquid into Sienna's bloodstream, as I saw that Sienna clearly was surprised that Brenda even had this EpiPen to begin with. I watched as Sienna tried to pry the modified EpiPen out, but Brenda pushed back, causing the EpiPen to crack and break. It was then, however, that Sienna gained a more fearful look as she began to gasp and choke as her face began swelling up like a balloon.

I covered my mouth with my hand, looking away for a moment, horrified.

I then turned my attention back to the screen, but it was pretty much over.

Sienna's fate was written in Anabolic shock.

I saw Brenda squeeze around Sienna's neck to prevent her from screaming, but at this point, the damage had already been done.

Despite some light scratching on Brenda's wrists from Sienna's end, it was clear that Sienna wasn't going to make it.

Her struggling became weaker and weaker as the life faded from her body.

I saw Brenda whisper something to Sienna that sounded like, _"Shh. It's gonna be alright Sienna. You'll soon be reunited. I promise. Please don't fight it. Rest now and be with her."_

Eventually, Sienna's body fell limp and she was gone.

I covered my mouth with my hands, trembling as my eyes were wide with horror as the video ended.

I was deathly silent before I began sobbing loudly.

This whole time… Sienna was dead…

And Daniel had murdered Sam for nothing…

"… Damn you, Monokuma…" I murmured, then screamed out, "Goddamn you, you twisted, fucked-up teddy bear!"

I don't know how long I cried for after that… I don't even know if I even fell asleep… Everything just seemed like a dreamless sleep after I had cried for a while…

I don't even know if I left my computer open, either…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I woke up a few hours later into the night, still in a bit of a haze, and still having my computer open on my bed.

Apparently I'd fallen asleep crying on the side of my bed.

I checked the time and saw that it was about 2 in morning.

I sighed, knowing it was late, then decided to see if anymore files were added to my computer.

That's when I saw a file labeled 'Read this'.

I blinked, then opened the file.

Doing so opened an image that had text on it.

It read:

' _Plug the hard drive into your computer now. They can't watch you in the cameras at this time of night. Delete this file after you read this._ '

This seemed all kinds of shady, but there literally was no turning back now.

I sighed, then closed the file, deleted it, then got the hard drive out of my bag, then plugged it into the USB slot on my laptop.

There were quite a few files on the hard drive, most of which were Word Documents, but there were a few video and image files.

I the text files all seemed to be titled 'Dylan's Report' and were all numbered.

However, the very first file in this driver was a text file titled 'Instructions'.

Being the cautious person I'd become, I opened that file first.

It read as follows:

" _Monako Kumara,_

 _I know you probably have a lot of questions, but the truth is, there's not a lot of time to answer everything in one night._

 _Hope's Peak is not all that it seems._

 _But you already know that by now._

 _But the thing is, the killing game you're in, and the one that your friend Kai is in…_

 _It's not the first-time blood has been spilled in the halls of Hope's Peak Academy._

 _What you're about to see over the course of your time in this seminar are the accounts of a student who attended Hope's Peak back in 2006 during a string of murders that led to the very conception of the modern-day Mutual Game of Killing._

 _One that your older Brother was involved in."_

My eyes widened at that.

My brother attended Hope's Peak?

How come my parents never told me about that?

I mean, granted, I hadn't seen my brother in years and he's a bit of a sensitive subject to my parents, but if he really went to Hope's Peak… Then… why hadn't I heard of this?

 **Chapter One: The Despair on Ice**

 **Deceased Students: 3**

 **Students remaining: 17**

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Oh hey, I'm not dead! XD_

 _But in all seriousness, this took me a little longer to get just right than I would've hoped, but, with guidance, I was finally able to post this up and this time do it better._

 _Not only that, but there was also a ton of references or jokes I cut out either because they were too topical or a line too far._

 _In fact, there was a Scott Baio joke that I cut out because it was too topical and it was something I knew I couldn't leave in there and people wouldn't bring it up in the reviews._

 _I also had wanted to do an extra scene at the end that did a little more of background plot setup, but again, I was at like over 9,900 words by that point, I didn't feel like typing anymore, and I figured leaving it on an ambiguous cliffhanger would be just better writing in general._

 _As for the 'files', well, the 'accounts' of this other person are gonna be told in side chapters._

 _Like, short intermissions between parts of a chapter._

 _I had wanted to do a whole new fic for it, but I thought it would be too much for me to manage, I'd end up focusing on this and not on the other fic, and I'd just procrastinate for weeks on end like I did with this chapter._

 _Anyways, point is, this took some doing, but I finally did it._

 _I hope you enjoyed my belated end to the first chapter of this fic._

 _I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things._

 _Leave a review if you liked this._

 _Just don't leave guest reviews if you want to critique._

 _That's just uncool._

 _Alright, see ya guys later._


	7. Chapter 2: Lovin, touchin, despairin

_*cutscene of Mikan Tsumiki falling and landing in a compromising pose*_

 _*bursts in through door*_

" _Heeeeey, Stop! I-oh-why? I just don't get it, I always catching you watching this sick shit. This is sickening!" -Weapon X Foxfurry 2018_

 **3 Students Dead**

 **17 Students Remaining**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Daily Life Part One**

 **Lovin', touchin', Despairin'**

The next day, I woke up somewhat hazily, having stayed up most of the night looking at as many of the files on the hard drive as I could before I needed sleep.

My dreams the night before were hazy and somewhat fevered.

I can't even remember what they were about.

As I tried to recall my dreams, I pulled myself out of bed and began to get ready for the day.

My outfit for today consisted of a pale pink ruffled blouse, a pair of tight denim capris jeans, a pair of black lycra leggings, and a pair of pink high-heeled platform shoes.

I also styled my hair in it's typical side ponytail, clipping a bunny-shaped barrette in my hair.

Once I was fully ready, I made a quick video to recap everything that had occurred, then once I had done that, I went downstairs to go eat breakfast.

When I got to the buffet restaurant, it was eerily quiet there.

I filled my tray with food, then took my seat with Joey and Clarissa, who were both strangely quiet.

I looked over at the empty spot where Sam once sat at with us, then over at the empty spot at the table Daniel had sat at.

"…"

I looked down, spacing out a bit.

After a bit of tuning out the world, I eventually snapped out of my stupor, having heard something crash, as well as muffled shouting.

I looked over as reality began to set back in for me.

I saw George on the floor, with Alice standing over him, glaring.

"… And for th' record," Alice said, sounding like she was in the middle of a sentence that I tuned out, "Daniel's twice the man you'll ever be, an' Sam is thrice the human being you'll ever be!"

"Whatever…" George growled, standing, then storming out.

I watched him leave, then looked over at Alice, who seemed to have calmed down by now, sitting down beside Nathan again.

I looked over at Joey and Clarissa, who both shrugged.

It was then that I heard Liza clear her throat, then speak to everyone.

"Excuse me, everyone…" she said, "I… I want to take this minute to say this…"

She looked down a moment, then continued.

"… I know everyone's still upset about last night… But we can't let Mister Bear win! We have to unite as one big Ohana. Ohana means Family. And Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten!"

"You got that off of Lilo and Stitch." Nathan responded.

"It's still true!" Liza responded, huffing.

"Th' lass is right." Martin added, standing as well, "If we think o' ourselves as enemies, then that's exactly what Monokuma wants. But if we think o' ourselves as family, then we rob 'im o'th' satisfaction of another murder."

"Yes, but…" Franklin spoke, shaking his head, "Unless you've forgotten, then by now the rules are very clear."

He glanced at me for a brief second, then said, "To kill is to escape. To sit around and try to get along is to stay and die. If we sit around singing campfire songs and playing games with one another, we'll be stuck here forever. But… If one of us kills another of us… And gets away with it… Then they get to escape…"

"Yeah, while everyone else dies." Nathan responded, "We've already been over this. You're basically repeating shit because you think it makes you look smart and impressive."

"Easy for you to say, commando." Franklin mused with a smirk, "You're the one who's been hanging around the YouTuber with influence."

I was about to open my mouth to speak, but Nathan then said, "You think I honestly give two shits about that bitch? Hah! Get real. I could care less about her life. Hell, if she died right now, I wouldn't even bat an eye. In fact, I bet no one would cry if she killed herself."

"Nathan!" Alice said suddenly, raising her voice, then going over to him and saying, "We talked about this…"

"You think I care?" Nathan responded.

Alice then whispered something in Nathan's ear, at which point he looked like he had an understanding with the SHSL Pilot.

"… Whatever…" Nathan shrugged, then glanced at me one more time before leaving without throwing away his trash.

I shrugged, then threw away my own trash after I finished eating, then stood and looked around.

 **Free Time Start!**

I spotted Liza, who looked kind of down.

I guess spending time with her might be a good idea.

After all, I did promise I would help her reset her watch.

I approached her, a softer expression on my face.

"Heya, Liza." I greeted, smiling.

"Oh, heya, Big Sis Manako!" Liza said, absolutely beaming and cheering up instantly.

"I was thinking you and I could go to the arcade together." I said to her.

Liza shook her head.

"My parents don't let me play video games." She said.

"Well, what would you like to do, then?" I asked.

"Well, I saw the way to the pool and the rental shop open…" Liza said, "Maybe we could play in the pool?"

"Well, I did happen to bring my wetsuit with me on this excursion…" I mused, then smiled and said, "Sure. I'll meet you there. Lemme just grab my swimsuit."

"Yay!" Liza cheered, then ran off to her room, supposedly to grab her own swimsuit.

I shrugged, then went to my room to grab my full-body wetsuit that would protect my sensitive skin from the sun's rays.

As I entered my room, however, I unconsciously took out my phone to check it, probably out of habit, since I was still used to checking it so much.

I checked my text app to see if I had gotten any new texts.

I had gotten only one, and it was from a friend I hadn't heard from in years…

 _ **Junko: Hey girl! How're chu? 030**_

"…"

My hands trembled as I feverishly tried to text my friend back, only for the message to not go through each time.

I leaned against the wall beside the door, sighing.

Junko Enoshima was the second friend I had made after moving to the states.

She was a supermodel that pretty much everyone and their dog loved, and she was in pretty much every fashion magazine, pinup catalog, calendar, online clothing store images, and pretty much every single form of media where sexy-bodied girls pose for a camera that isn't porn.

Although, she has done shoots for BDSM wear, but that's not important.

What is important, however, is the fact that I somehow got a text from her.

Especially after I hadn't even thought about Junko in years since we last parted ways last New Year's.

Point is, Junko Enoshima was how I even got as famous on social media as I had gotten…

I remember those days so fondly…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Los Angeles, California, USA_

 _April 22_ _nd_ _, 2013_

 _Four years earlier…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _It all started at a wrap party at the mansion of some director Sam was doing a movie for over in the Hollywood hills._

 _It was a formal attire event, but had music from bands like Green Day, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Red Hot Chili Peppers playing at it._

 _Since I had only just became friends with Sam, and since she had hooked me up with a beachside apartment in Santa Monica, I figured I had a decent setup to get into Modeling here in America._

 _About a week prior to the party, Sam had me do a few demo shots to sort of show what I was capable of and whatnot, although she didn't really have too many connections in the modeling community, but I figured I could figure that out myself._

 _I stood by the punch bowl awkwardly, clad in a bright red Chinese Cheongsam dress with a golden lion print design embroidered on it, a pair of translucent red nylon pantyhose with a floral print design on them, a pair of candy apple red high heels, long red silk opera gloves that went up to my elbows, and had my hair styled up in a bun with a little bit of my bangs on my right side of my face, swept to the side and curled._

 _I didn't know anyone, Sam was off talking to some cute actor or something, there wasn't many non-alcoholic drinks at the party, the music was loud, and I really just wanted to go back to my apartment and watch movies on HBO the rest of the night._

 _Then… I saw her._

 _Junko Enoshima._

 _She was probably about my age at the time, maybe a year older, but she had reddish-pink hair done in a pair of wild pigtails, bright eyes, an ample bust that contradicted the larger bust she had in most of the fashion magazines she was in, light skin, and had on a black low-cut shoulderless top, a pair of dark red short shorts, a pair of long, shiny red rubber high heeled boots that went up to her thighs, a bunch of multicolor rave bracelets around her wrists, and most of all, had a hairpin shaped like a bunny in her hair._

 _She was also of Japanese descent, so I instantly had something in common with her._

 _I'd read all about Junko in fashion magazines back home, and I wanted so badly to be just like her._

 _I looked up to her quite a bit, and it was understandable that I was hesitating to go and talk to her._

 _It didn't take long for her to spot me gawking at her, as she soon approached me._

" _Hey, not to be rude or anything…" Junko said to me, "And I know it's like 2013 and lesbianism is gaining more media attention and stuff, but unless you're gonna ask me out or offer me a drink, I'd suggest you stop staring."_

"… _O-Oh, sumimasen!" I apologized, "I just… Y-you're Junko Enoshima, right?"_

" _Well, yeah, obviously." Junko said, a sarcastic smirk on her face, "Otherwise I wouldn't be here with all these big-name actors and celebs. Hell, I just got done with a conversation with James Franco about a painting he did recently over there in the den. The guy's got a talent, that's fo-sho."_

" _W-well…" I said, "I… I'm actually looking to get into modeling like you… In fact, I came here all the way from Japan to be a model in America."_

" _Japan, huh?" Junko mused, "Well, us Japs sure gotta stick together."_

 _She then got a better look at me._

" _Wait a minute…" she said, "Hey, I recognize you! You're Manako Kumara, AKA, Mon-Ika-Chan, AKA the Squid princess of Pop!"_

" _Well, that's only because I was born as 'Monika' but I changed it to Manako because I kept being made fun of because of it. But, apparently my agent liked it so much that he themed my whole asthetic after squids. For my concerts, I had to wear this latex suit and wig prosthetics to make my hairstyle look like squid tentacles."_

" _Well, I'm sure you won't be the last squid-themed Japanese pop star to take the stage…" Junko reassured, "Hell, they could even do one of those hologram memes and create a virtual squid girl pop star."_

" _Well, I mean, it's worked for Miku Hatsune…" I sighed._

" _Yeah, and God only knows she'll still sell even after the Rapture…" Junko nodded, "So, you said you wanted to get into Modeling, huh?"_

" _H-hai…" I said, nodding, "Do you know anyone that I can model for?"_

" _Honey, I'm a fashion model!" Junko said, doing an impression of a black woman from Louisiana for that sentence only, then reverting back to her normal voice, "You honestly thought I wouldn't have connections?"_

" _Well, I-" I began, but Junko interrupted me, then handed me a business card, then said, "Here, this is a modeling agency I frequent sometimes. Give them a call, schedule an appointment, tell them I sent you."_

" _Oh, th-thanks…" I said, looking the card over, then putting it in my leather handbag._

" _So, Ika-Chan…" Junko said, smiling, "You wanna go dance with me non-platonically or are you genuinely gonna ask me out, 'cause I'm good with either or both."_

" _Let's dance for now…" I said, blushing a bit, "We can worry about that other stuff later down the line if it comes up…"_

" _Well, c'mon then, sistah." Junko said, taking me by the hand and leading me over to the dance floor that was set up in the back patio, and the two of us danced the rest of that night away._

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Present Day…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

That night pretty much defined the rest of my life up until now.

Still, I couldn't understand how Junko was able to text me.

Was Monokuma lying about the cell phone jammer?

That seemed like an impossibility, considering I couldn't text her back.

None of this made any sense…

I shrugged, then went for my clothing bag, digging around in it until I found my beach bag.

My beach bag was this Disney Little Mermaid bag I got from Disneyland Tokyo when I went with Kai, and I had a keychain of a chibi-figurine of Braig from Kingdom Hearts clipped to it, as well as a keychain of Hello kitty as a mermaid clipped to it as well.

I opened up my bag, and in it was a bottle of sunblock, which I probably didn't need, since I would be wearing a wetsuit to the pool like I sometimes do, a pair of swimming fins and webbed gloves for whenever I swim laps at my backyard pool back in LA, a pink rubber hairband that I typically use to tie my hair back whenever I swim, and of course, a hot pink and sky blue wetsuit that covered everything from the neck-down, and had an emblem of a 1980's Miami Vice-style palm tree on the chest of it, and featured a back zipper for easy entry.

I went into my bedroom and changed into my wetsuit, tying my hair back in a bun using the hairband in my beach bag, then putting on a pair of pink and red flip flops.

With that, I was ready to go, getting a compact waterproof digital video camera fixed to a selfie stick so that I could possibly vlog at the pool, as well as my phone, and put everything into my beach bag, then left my room and headed to the pool.

Along the way, I ran into Clarissa, who had her own beach bag in hand and was clad in a metallic peacock blue two-piece bikini, a pair of sandals, and, had a pale blue track jacket over her bikini that was fully unzipped.

"Oh, Clarissa!" I said, "You headed to the pool as well?"

Clarissa nodded, smiling a bit.

"I-I… I guess I just missed being able to take a dip in the pool as a mermaid…" she said.

"Well, you are the SHSL Mermaid Performer." I said with a laugh, "I can't imagine you not being a mermaid for longer than a day."

"Well, even us mermaids require human interaction from time to time." Clarissa laughed, "We can't spend all our time in the sea, otherwise we'd get too lonely."

"Is that so?" I mused, "Well, I can't imagine what that's like, seeing as how I'm a land-dwelling human."

The two of us soon arrived at the poor, where not surprisingly enough, Liza was already waiting for me, clad in a pale red floral print one-piece bathing suit.

Surprisingly enough, however, was the fact that I saw Vivian laying on a pool chair, clad in a skimpy, shiny black two-piece bikini with Egyptian eye symbols on the cups of the bikini top, and didn't have her Egyptian crown on, but had golden ornament hair sheaths holding the sides of her hair in a neat set of sheathed braids, and also still had on her normal Egyptian-style eyeliner, as well as having Egyptian patterns painted on her shoulders with what appeared to be black body paint.

She appeared to be lounging by the pool, soaking up the sun, as the sunlight glistened against her dark ebony skin.

Now, I'm somewhat straight, but looking at Vivian's body not covered in clothes or bandages, I can understand why Joey was attracted to her.

"C'mon Miss Manako!" Liza chirped, "Last one in's a rotten egg!"

Liza then leapt into the pool, performing a cannonball that apparently caused water to splash onto Vivian, causing her to gasp in surprise as she jolted upright.

"Oops… Sorry, Miss Vivian…" Liza apologized sheepishly.

Vivian was quiet, looking at herself a moment.

Finally, she spoke.

"… You… You little brat!"

She scowled at Liza, her expression uncharacteristically enraged, as Liza watched in fear.

"Do you even fathom how long it takes me each day to do all my makeup?" Vivian hissed, her straight black hair seeming to frizz out like she was part-cat, "Each day, I spend nearly ten minutes applying all my makeup to my body, then another twelve wrapping all the bandages around my body, then another thirteen minutes putting on my clothing, jewelry, and crown. But now, **LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!** "

She showed her shoulder, which now had the beautiful Egyptian pattern painted on it with the body paint beginning to run, as well as the eyeliner around her eyes beginning to run too.

"… I-I'm sorry, Miss Vivian…" Liza whimpered, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, come on…" I said, glaring at Vivian, "She's just a kid, alright? Leave her alone."

Vivian seethed a long moment, then finally calmed, her expression dark and unforgiving.

"… If this were my ancestor's kingdom in Egypt, you would have been executed by live mummification…" she hissed, pointing at Liza, then pointed at me and added, "As would you, for talking back to the queen."

"Yeah, well, news flash, Cleopatra." I responded, "You're not a queen, nor is this ancient Egypt. This is America in the year 2016."

"Hmph." Vivian huffed, "Have it your way, commoner trash…"

She then muttered in Egyptian as she left the pool area for the female changing room.

"… Liza, are you okay?" I asked Liza.

Liza nodded.

"… I will be…" she whimpered.

I set down my beach bag by another pool chair, then climbed into the pool and swam over to Liza's side, giving her a hug.

"It's alright…" I assured her, "I'm sure Vivian didn't mean to get angry…"

"… I guess so…" Liza murmured.

"Why don't we just forget about her for now and just have fun in the pool?" I asked her, letting go of her.

Liza's expression quickly lightened up as she smiled brightly.

"Sure!" she cheerfully chirped, as if nothing bad had happened in the past three minutes.

"If you don't mind me…" Clarissa said, setting her beach bag down and sitting on the poolside next to her bag, "… I'm going to become a mermaid."

"You mean you're going to put on your mermaid tail sheath?" Liza asked.

Clarissa blinked at this.

"… Do you-" she began, but Liza shrugged and replied, "I know mermaids aren't real. I have a friend who's a freediver who wears mermaid tail suits all the time while diving."

"O-Oh… I see…" Clarissa said, seeming relieved.

She then took off her track jacket and draped it on a nearby pool chair, then dug around her beach bag, pulling out a shiny sky-blue vinyl mermaid tail sheath, with a monofin built into the end of it.

She then put her feet into the tail, then began to slowly pull the tail sheath over her legs.

Once the sheath was fully over her legs and hips, Clarissa then pulled the back zipper and zipped it up.

She breathed a calm sigh, then reached into her bag again and got out a beautiful pearlstring necklace, putting it around her neck.

Then, she got out a hairband and tied her long hair into a neat bun.

Finally, she reached into her bag one more time and got out a bright metallic blue wavy long hair wig and put it on her head in a way that it would stay on even while she's underwater or wet.

I watched her do all of this, sort of mesmerized by it.

Clarissa noticed this, looking over at me and blushing shyly.

"… Th-this is my usual costume whenever I'm performing…" she murmured, "… I-I-I h-hope that's okay…"

"It's okay." I assured her, smiling, "Honestly, I'd love to try swimming in one of those, myself."

"Me too, me too!" Liza chimed in excitedly.

"Well, maybe we can go to the rental shop here at the hotel and find some for you that fit." Clarissa said with a smile.

The SHSL Mermaid performer then gently slid into the pool, submerging herself a moment, then surfaced, doing that hair flip Ariel did in The Little Mermaid.

She then began swimming around the pool very gracefully, almost like she was dancing.

As she twirled around me in the water, she sang a very slow, graceful, syren-like tune.

" _With the lights out…. It's less dangerous…_

 _Here we are now… Entertain us…_

 _I feel stupid… And contagious_

 _Here we are now… Entertain us…"_

Clarissa breathed a long relaxed, contented sigh, leaning back and floating on her back a moment before going back to swimming and twirling around me and Liza.

"… Nice… Nirvana cover…" I said, "… You sure you're not a real mermaid? 'Cause that was some Odyssey Syren-type singing there…"

Clarissa ignored me, daintily taking my hands in her own.

" _And I forget… Just why I taste…"_ he continued to sing, " _Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile… I found it hard, it's hard to find… Oh well… What-e-ver… Nev-er-mind…"_

She leaned in close to me, making me blush a bit as I began to feel a bit hot and bothered by so much physical contact with Clarissa.

She continued to sing again.

" _With the lights out…. It's less dangerous…"_

She pulled me close…

" _Here we are now… Entertain us…"_

My heart was pounding out of my chest…

" _I feel stupid… And contagious"_

Clarissa closed her eyes and began to slowly lean in close…

" _Here we are now… Entertain us…"_

My lips were dangerously close to hers, so close I could see feel her breath on my face.

I could feel a strong tingle on my crotch.

My posture was completely straight.

My eyes wide in both panic and confusion.

I was hot, confused, and sweating bullets.

I didn't know whether to return the gesture or back away.

I felt weak in the knees.

I… Needed to do something.

Anything!

My mind was drawing a blank.

I couldn't think.

I was confused by so many emotions.

I needed to do something to respond to this!

 _ **Wake up, stupid!**_

"Hey, so, I saw Vivian and-"

Joey trailed off when he saw us.

Oh thank God.

Thank you, Joey.

I snapped out of my stupor, as Clarissa snapped to reality, her eyes going wide as dinner plates when she finally realized what she and I almost did.

I glanced at Joey, who was absolutely dumbfounded by all this.

"… I need to go…" Clarissa murmured, before climbing out of the pool, grabbing her beach bag, and bunny hopping away from the pool as fast as she could while still wearing her mermaid costume.

"Miss Manako?" Liza asked me, "Why did Clarissa almost kiss you? Are…. Are girls allowed to kiss other girls?"

"… Y-yeah…" I stammered, "… I m-mean… A-a-as long as they have permission, that is… Why don't we get dried off and get something to eat?"

Liza nodded, smiling.

"I want ice cream!" she chirped.

I nodded.

"Me too, Liza-San… Me too…"

The two of us then got out of the pool, dried off, then headed to the ice cream shop on the second floor without changing out of our swimwear.

I ended up getting a fudge-dipped vanilla soft serve cone, and Liza got a cup of chocolate soft serve covered in hot fudge and sprinkles.

I said my mealtime respects, then daintily began to eat my ice cream, as Liza did the same.

"So, Liza… What's it like living in Hawaii?" I asked, "I get you get to play on the beach all the time."

"Mhm!" Liza nodded, "Me and my family live in a beachside bungalow over on the west side of the big island!"

"I see…" I said, "What's your family like?"

"Wellllll…" Liza answered, "My daddy is a pro surfer and also teaches traditional hula dancing at a studio he co-owns with his friend, who teaches Karate there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He's very good at surfing, and often surfs with my older sis. And my mommy is a very important businesswoman. She manages a resort hotel over in one of the cities on the big island, and gives me traditional Korean dance lessons on Sundays. She also makes the best tea in the world! And my dad makes the best Barbecue in all of Hawaii!"

"So, you mentioned earlier your parents don't let you play video games?" I asked.

"Nope." Liza answered, shaking her head, "They make me play outside or in my room. We only have two TVs in the bungalow. One's in the den area, and the other is in the kitchen area. We also only have one computer, and my mommy uses it for work."

"So, you've never been on the internet?" I asked.

Liza shook her head.

"Do your parents at least give you a smart phone?" I pressed.

Liza reached in her beach bag and pulled out an old, but obviously still functional, flip phone.

"… Oh my…" I said.

"Yeah, my parents are very traditional…" Liza said, "Very big on traditional values from both Hawaii and Korea. Our home is like a melting pot of both Hawaiian and Korean traditions and values… My talent… Is the culmination of these two worlds…"

She put away her flip phone and gained a somewhat contemplative expression.

"My daddy says that dance tells the story of where we come from… Of who our ancestors are, and the stories they tell… Even the dances of today all came from somewhere… Even here… In mainland America… Everyone has their own story…"

She looked up at me.

"… Wouldn't you say, Big sis?"

I blinked, silent for a bit.

"… I guess that's one way to look at it… But, Liza… That's some pretty deep philosophy coming from you…"

Liza smiled, giggling.

"Trust me, Big sis, I'm more than just a cute face." She chirped, beaming.

"I guess you're right…" I said, smiling as well.

After we finished our ice cream, we parted ways once more.

I still had some free time, so I decided to check on Clarissa, just to see if she was okay.

I took the elevator up to the suites, then walked towards the door to Clarissa's room.

Once there, I took a breath, then knocked on the door.

"Clarissa?" I called, "You okay in there?"

"A-ah! J-j-j-ust a minute!" Clarissa called, sounding like she was in the middle of something.

I blinked, then tried to turn the doorknob.

It was locked, which begged all kinds of questions.

"Clarissa, are you okay?" I called, "Why is your door locked?"

"I-I'm busy!... Ah… C-c-come… Ngh…. Come back… Ahn… Ah…. Nnh… Ah… Ah!"

There was silence then, but I heard the faint sounds of panting.

I shrugged, then left, heading to my room to change out of my wetsuit.

Rooting through my clothing bags, I managed to put together an outfit consisting of a short-sleeved metallic hot pink lycra catsuit with a cherry blossom pattern on it and a back zip, a pair of wrist-length frilly white lace gloves, a pair of candy apple red high-heeled Lolita platform slippers, and a white lace choker.

I also put a chibi bunny-shaped barrette in my hair to hold my side ponytail in place.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, satisfied with my outfit.

I gave a smile, then posed a little bit before leaving my hotel room once more.

I still had quite a bit of free time left, so I decided to see if anyone else wanted to hang out.

One the way to the commons, I met up with Alice, who was looking at an exhibit in the corner of the atrium that was dedicated to American daredevils and record-breakers, and even included a replica of Charles Lindbergh's plane, The Spirit of St. Louis.

"Oh, hey Alice." I greeted.

Alice looked over at me, smiling a bit.

"G'day, Manako." She said, "How're ya doin'?"

"I'm good." I said, "Just sort of wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"Well…" Alice said, "I was hopin' to talk to ya."

"You were?" I asked, surprised.

Alice nodded.

"Can we go somewhere private?" she asked.

"I guess…" I sighed, "I mean, as private as being under constant surveillance gets, anyway…"

I gestured to one of the security cameras hanging on the wall nearby.

Alice nodded, then began to lead me towards her room on the suites floor, opening the door for me and closing it behind us once we were inside.

I saw that Alice had several army green duffel bags on her floor, all marked with Australian Air Force markings.

She also had a laptop on the coffee table in the living area of her room, but it was closed and turned off currently.

She gestured for me to sit on the couch, which I did, crossing my left leg over my right and folding my hands in my lap in a ladylike manner.

"Would you like somethin' to drink?" Alice asked me, "I kinda stockpiled on soda, juice, and energy drinks... I also have snacks and candy."

"A juice would be nice." I said.

"Any preference?" Alice asked.

"Not really…" I answered.

Alice nodded, opening the refrigerator and got out a bottle of pomegranate juice, which I accepted and opened, taking a sip of it.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Well…" Alice began, "I wanted to talk to you about the last trial…"

Alice looked right into my eyes.

"… Regarding mine and Nathan's actions leading up to the investigation…"

I listened, intrigued as to what she meant.

"… Let's start with the basics…" Alice said, "… The weapon…"

She paused a moment, then asked me a question that shook me to my core.

"… Manako…. Did you know there was a gap between the bedroom dresser and the wall of Nathan's room?"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _So, a lotta things happened just now in this particular chapter part._

 _Not only that, but I apologize that this took so long for me to put out._

 _I've been distracted, and I had like the shittiest work week all last week._

 _At least we get some interesting backstory in this installment._

 _Anyways, be sure to leave a review, but again, don't be a bitch leave a guest review just so you can shit on the fic and be a jerk without revealing your screenname._

 _I hate when people do that._

 _I've seen people do that to the fics of some of my friends here on Fanfiction._

 _Also, be sure to follow this fic and hit the notifications button so that you know when I post a new chapter._

 _That's all for now._

 _See you guys later~ 030_


	8. Chapter 2: Dreams of Love and Despair

" _Eyy baws, I habe a despair, please." -Weapon X Foxfurry_

 **Chapter two Daily Life**

 **Part two:**

 **Dreams of Love and Despair**

"… A-a gap?" I repeated.

I was stunned.

There was a gap between the dresser and the wall in Nathan's room too?

Did that mean that all the other rooms had that same gap?

Regardless, Alice nodded.

"After some research, and after searchin' both my room and Sam's, we determined that all the rooms had the same gap." She said.

So I guessed it right.

Still, why would something that subtle be featured in every hotel room in this building?

None of this made sense.

Suddenly, I heard something I thought I'd never hear.

my phone began ringing, playing 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga as the ringtone.

I looked at Alice, who seemed just as surprised as I was.

I then quickly answered my phone, my hands trembling violently as I held my phone to my ear.

"... M-m-moshi moshi?"

 _"M-Manako? Is that you?"_

"!"

I went wide-eyed with surprise upon hearing this familiar voice.

"Who is it?" Alice asked, concerned.

"... K-Kai?" I stammered, "... Oh my God, Kai... Thank God you're alive..."

"Kai?" Alice asked, "As in Kai Brugger?"

 _"Manako! God Manako! I can't believe it!"_ Kai said, _"It's been hell in here! Five of my schoolmates are dead and this demon bear is still forcing us to play this sick killing game. But you already know that since it's being broadcasted."_

"It's been hell here, too..." I said, tears in my eyes, "Mariko got executed for attacking Monokuma right at the start, and Sam got murdered by Daniel..."

I trailed off when I mentioned Daniel.

"... Kai... I... I know about Sienna..." I said.

 _"So my suspicion was right…"_ Kai said, _"You're in a killing game too. Why is this happening to us? Wait... Sienna? What about her?"_

"... Someone put files on my computer..." I said, "... The files contained videos of Daniel and Sienna together... And the night of my first trial... I saw..."

I trembled, trying to fight back tears.

"... I saw a girl murder Sienna..."

 _"That was Brenda, the Ultimate Collector."_ Kai responded, _"I'm... I'm sorry about Mariko, Sam, and Daniel. I lost five good friends here. Also why are you getting videos of Daniel and Sienna?"_

"I don't know..." I sighed, "I don't know what's going on anymore, honestly... one of my classmates, Alice, was telling me about how all the rooms have a gap between the dresser and the bedroom wall... Apparently it's easy to hide things there... That's where Alice found the murder weapon before the investigation of the last trial."

 _"What the hell is going on? Why are we in these killing games?"_ Kai said.

"I don't know..." I sighed.

"Um..." Alice said, "... you mind putting us on speaker?"

I blinked.

"I... Admittedly know a thing or two..." Alice admitted.

I sighed, then put the call on speakerphone.

 _"Manako please tell me you know where Terry is right now…"_ Kai said, sounding distressed, " _Monokuma has done something to him."_

"I don't know..." I said, looking down, "I can't even contact my parents..."

"If my theory is correct..." Alice said, opening her laptop up and turning it on, "... It might not be so simple..."

" _What do you mean?"_ Kai asked. " _Also, who is this?"_

"Alice Spencer, Super High School Level Pilot." Alice introduced, "And as for why it's not simple, let me explain..."

she opened up a specific program on her computer, which opened a few files on it.

"I've been doing research up until the killing games, I have..." she began, "Apparently since the beginning of this year, there's been increased activity from anti-government militias and Alternative-Political influence groups in America. Surprisingly, this has been going on long before the current election, but it's possible the election was the catalyst. However, despite this, there's been talk among the internet of something simply called 'Despair'."

she brought up a screenshot of a news article.

"Right at the beginning of this year, members of an Anti-Government Militia based in a town in Colorado took an entire government office hostage, demanding that Federal Agents release one of their members that they claimed got arrested in a sting earlier that week. But here's the kicker; The member they were demanding doesn't exist. It was merely a ploy to buy them more time. When Federal Marshals moved in and apprehended them, it was revealed that the militia had killed all the hostages already. Needless to say, the Marshals gunned all of the militia men down, save for one, who they apprehended. When they questioned him, he said he was instructed to do this, and that 'Despair' is coming."

 _"It sounds like he was working for Monokuma and the masterminds behind our killing games_." Kai noted.

"It seems that the masterminds behind all this are trying to marshal all the Anti-government, Fascist, and Anarchist groups in the world against the powers that be..." Alice said, "there's been stories of violent incidents all around the world lately... Far more than there ever have been... And not only that..."

she pulled up a particular article.

I gasped when I saw it.

"... Apparently the Hope's Peak Los Angeles class went missing..." Alice said.

There was a brief pause before Kai finally spoke.

" _Missing?"_ He questioned, " _What do you mean the class and staff went missing? Sure they staff seem to have vanished from here but we've been here since the first day Hope's Peak Academy opened to the public and televised since the killing game started."_

"That's the weird part..." Alice said, "Only the students went missing... The staff... well... One of them was found in his apartment, hanging from the ceiling with a belt... His computer was on, and there was a instant message left open that mentioned 'giving the order' or something... It's possible it was an inside job..."

"So, what about the Japanese Campus?" I asked, "Has anything come up about them?"

Alice shook her head.

"Nothing..." she said, "Classes have been going on regularly there..."

" _But that makes no sense at all. How could we have gone missing? There's just no possible way. Trapped with no way out yes, but missing is impossible. When was the article dated?"_ Kai asked, sounding bewildered beyond reason.

Alice was about to scroll up to the date, when all of a sudden a window popped up on her computer.

the window was colored monochrome black and white and read 'IMPORTANT' on the top banner of it.

it read:

 _'Ah ah ah! We'll have none of that, you nosy little nudge_!'

At that, a window for Alice's Antivirus came up that said that she had a virus.

"... Uh oh..." Alice said, trying to click on the window.

however, when she did, the computer blue-screened before going black and short-circuiting.

"Shit!" Alice cursed, "Bloody blighters got me computer..."

Suddenly, I heard Monokuma's voice say in the call, " _You're time is up! You have 10 seconds remaining!"_

 _"What? No! You didn't say anything about a time limit! Manako!"_ Kai cried out in despair.

"Kai!" Manako exclaimed, remembering something, "Listen, the night I arrived in Las Vegas, I heard a voice! It said that finding 'him' is the key to saving everyone! I... I don't know if it means you, but if it does... I'll find a way out of here... I'll find you... I... I promise!"

However, halfway through that thought, a dial tone rang out, signifying the call was ended long before I could tell Kai the rest.

I grasped the phone with shaky hands, trembling.

"Looks like the perk your friend got over at the other killing game really paid off!"

Monokuma popped up from nowhere, but I didn't look at him.

"So…" Monokuma said, "What were you tellin' your boyfriend about there?"

I said nothing, remaining silent.

"You better not be ignoring me, toots…" Monokuma growled, "It'd be unwise to ignore someone like me…"

Monokuma's red eye glinted.

"… Especially when it comes to the motive…"

I blinked, looking over at Monokuma.

"… What motive?" I asked.

"Oh, so _now_ you care?" Monokuma mocked, "Wellllll… I _could_ tell you outright… But I think that it'd be better for you to experience the motive for yourself!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll see~" he taunted, "Believe me, you'll know it when you see it."

With that, Monokuma disappeared like he typically does.

I sighed, putting my phone away and looking down.

"I'm sorry about yer friend…" Alice said, "I'm sure you'll see him again."

"… I just…" I said, "… I'm starting to have my doubts about this… About getting out of here… I'm worried… that more people are going to die before we're out of here…"

Alice sat down beside me, then gently took my hands in her own.

"We'll be fine, sheila." She reassured, smiling, "Me dad always said; 'There's always a rainbow beyond the storm'. I'm sure whatever happens from here on, we'll get out alright."

"… You seem pretty certain…" I said, looking at Alice.

"I'm not just certain, mate." Alice said, beaming, "It's th' honest truth!"

I was quiet, but then smiled back.

"Well, since me work computer is busted…" Alice said, standing before putting her work computer into her bag, then returned with a laptop that looked to be exclusively for recreational use, setting it down on the coffee table, "Why don' we do somethin' while we're here? We got plenty of time, we do."

"Yeah, I guess we could do that." I said, nodding, "What do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want to do, mate." Alice said.

"Well, why don't you tell me about yourself, then?" I suggested.

"Well, to start with…" Alice said, sitting down next to me on the couch, "I've already told ya about me talent and how I got it, but I haven' told ya much else, have I?"

"You mentioned learning to fly your family's cropduster plane." I pointed out.

"Right, right." Alice nodded, "Well, me dad was a fighter pilot durin' th' Gulf War, and my grandpa was a fighter pilot during World War II and The Korean War. He bought our first plane when he got back from fightin' in th' Pacific Theatre, and he got our second plane before he was deployed in Korea. When he got back, he got honorably discharged, then flew both for sport and for dustin' th' crops. Me grandad was my hero, he was… He and my dad took me flying in our family plane… Then, when me grandad finally passed, me dad took it upon himself to teach me to fly. Since then, I'd become a regular Amelia Earhart of the Outback. I flew sightseers around for aerial tours, flew people to other parts of the country and surrounding regions, and even once flew a bunch of tourists to the Philippines for a weddin'."

"This might seem like an out of the blue question…" I asked suddenly, "But, as an aviator… Have you ever seen…. UFOs?"

Alice blinked, then laughed.

"What're ya talkin' about, Sheila?" she said between laughs, "… But in all seriousness, there was this one time when I was workin' flying out over the desert at night, and… I can't explain it, but I saw… Somethin'… I dunno, could've been a military aircraft prototype, but I saw these lights… Eh, prolly nothin', tho. I did get questioned by an Air Force officer, tho, but nothin' really came of it…"

"I see…" I mused, "… So, what's with the tattoo on your arm?"

"Oh, this?" she asked, gesturing to the tribal tattoo on her arm, "This's jus' a reminder of me Aboriginal heritage. See, me mum's side of the family is of Aborigine descent, so there's a lotta old Aborigine traditions intertwining with me dad's Australian traditions. This tattoo was given to me as a symbol of my heritage."

"So, it's kinda like me, huh?" I said, "I'm actually half American and Half Japanese, so I think I understand what that's like."

"What was Japan like, even?" Alice asked me, looking fascinated.

"Well, nothing like in anime, that's for sure." I answered, "Honestly, I just lived there for most of my childhood until I turned Fifteen, at which point I moved to Los Angeles to become a model. Fittingly enough, it was in America where I became the modeling and social media icon I am now."

"Have you met anyone famous in Hollywood?" Alice asked, "Like, actors an' stuff?"

"Well, I did once see Robert Downey Jr. over at a Macy's in Beverly Hills." I admitted.

"No!" Alice said, amazed, "Oh my gosh, what's he like? Did you get his autograph?"

"Honestly, he's kinda just like his portrayal of Tony Stark in Avengers." I said, "I didn't get his autograph. We were both really there for like two things and then we parted ways."

"Have you met anyone else famous?" Alice asked, intrigued.

"Well, I once met Johnny Depp at a beachside juice bar at Venice Beach…" I answered, "I saw Stacy Peralta briefly at Santa Monica pier, since he just sorta walked past me with a surfboard in hand, I saw Jennifer Lawrence at a café over in Beverly Hills, and at one point, I got invited to a YouTuber party at the Game Grumps office. Oh! I did once get introduced to James Franco at a Wrap Party for a movie he did. The guy's such a sweetheart. Plus, he's an artist, too."

"Sounds like you lead quite the Hollywood lifestyle." Alice said, impressed.

"It's… not a huge deal…" I admitted.

"So, I've been meaning to mention…" Alice said, "Every day you've been here you've been wearing different flashy outfits. I mean, today I see you in a metallic hot pink catsuit with a cherry blossom pattern on it."

"This?" I asked, gesturing to my catsuit, "Oh, it was mostly an impulse buy online. Never thought I'd really wear it… Figure if I die here, I may as well wear it once."

"Well, I think it suits ya." Alice complimented, "But, you look good in anything you wear, honestly."

"Oh, well thank you." I said, smiling, "It's part of being a fashion model, you know."

I looked at the time, then said, "Well, I'd better go. It's getting late."

"Right." Alice nodded, "Pleasure talkin' with ya, Sheila."

"the pleasure's all mine." I said, bowing respectfully.

With that, I exited Alice's room, walking through the halls of the hotel.

When I was about halfway to my room, I my phone began giving off the voicemail notification sound.

I checked my phone, and it said it had one new voicemail from a number frankly labeled 'Unknown Caller'.

With a shaky hand, I opened up the voicemail and listened to it.

The voicemail message was… Bizarre…

All it was was Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People playing in it.

But, when it got to the first refrain, I felt strange.

I trembled a bit, holding onto the nearby wall for support, feeling like I had a massive migraine.

I twitched a bit, then felt something warm escape my eyes.

I shakily felt the area around one of my eyes and pulled my finger way to see that blood was coming out of my eyes.

I felt nauseous, too.

I then promptly vomited on the floor.

I breathed heavy, shaky breaths as a voice began whispering in the back of my mind.

"… _Wakey Wakey…"_

My vision then faded to black.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _I soon regained consciousness, standing in the halls of some kind of school, a Japanese High School, to be exact._

 _I looked around, blinking._

 _The hallways seemed eerily quiet and empty._

 _I spotted a poster on a nearby wall that told of a Summer festival at Hope's Peak._

 _I blinked._

 _Was… Was this The Japanese Hope's Peak Campus?_

 _The one my older brother went to?_

 _I know he got accepted into it for… Something… I just don't remember his talent… I was so young then…_

 _Regardless, I began walking through the school hallways, looking around at my surroundings as I did so._

 _I heard a familiar giggling nearby, looking around to see who it was._

 _Then, someone took my hand and pulled me to face them._

" _Hey, Ika-Chan."_

 _I blinked, going wide-eyed._

"… _Junko-Senpai?"_

 _Sure enough, Junko Enoshima was indeed there, but she was wearing a red and black traditional kimono that she wore very loosely and with nothing else underneath._

" _But ho-" I began, but Junko put a finger to my lips, shushing me._

" _Ika-Chan…" she said with a smile, "You know I'm not really here, right?"_

"… _You're not?" I asked, confused._

" _Naw, fam." Junko answered, "I'm not at liberty to say where, but I will say that I'm havin' a lotta fun where I am. So… Tell me… How has my protégé been all these years? Still takin' credit for me helping to jumpstart your career?"_

" _Well, I-" I began, but Junko interrupted with, "That was rhetorical, you dumb cunt. Seriously, how do you forget that it's because of me that you're where you are now?"_

" _Junko, it's been almost a year since we last spoke." I said, "What's been going on? Wh-what is this place? Wasn't I just in a hotel?"_

" _It's hard to explain in simple terms…" Junko answered vaguely, "I mean, I can, but am I_ _ **gonna**_ _?"_

 _She laughed after saying that part, as if it were a joke she just told._

" _But for real, though, I just wanna show you some shit…" she said, then began pulling me along through the halls without another word._

 _After going through one door, we suddenly found ourselves at some kind of courtyard at the school, right at a Buddha shrine by one of the courtyard walls._

 _There, a girl of age 16 was praying in front of the shrine._

 _She was of Japanese-American Descent, like me, with long black hair done in a long ponytail and had bright blue highlights in it, bright green eyes, a slim, almost puny body type, and wore a black V-neck Green Day T-shirt, a red plaid miniskirt, a pair of bright blue tights, a pair of traditional sandals, and had on some kind of traditional prayer necklace around her neck._

" _Who's that?" I asked Junko._

" _That…" Junko said, "… Is Gwen Takahari, The SHSL Medium… The first victim in the string of murders that led to the birth of the concept of a Mutual Game of Killing…"_

 _I suddenly felt something heavy in my right hand._

 _I held my hand up and gasped._

 _I was now holding a massive, nickel-plated .44 magnum revolver with an 8-inch barrel and a black rubber grip._

" _She was murdered…" Junko whispered, gently directing my hand holding the gun so that the gun was pointed at Gwen's back, "… with a Smith and Wesson Stealth Hunter .44 Magnum revolver…"_

 _Without thinking, my finger suddenly pulled on the trigger, sending the bullet right through Gwen's back and out the front of her chest, 'causing the girl to spit up some blood and fall forward._

 _Gwen gasped, looking up at her attacker in fear, clutching her bloody chest._

"… _she was shot three times…" Junko whispered, at which point I shot Gwen two more times, killing her._

 _I trembled, my hand shaking as I held the revolver in my hands with a shaky grip._

" _Now, keep in mind…" Junko told me, stepping in front of me, and gently pushing the gun down with a finger, "This… Is only a dramatic recreation of the murder. Only those that were actually attending class during that fateful time actually know what transpired that day, as that class was instructed, by both the police and the school, to investigate the murder, gather evidence, hear testimony, and then, hold a mock trial in the school auditorium after which the culprit would be arrested by the police. This… Was the event that inspired the Mastermind to create the world's first-ever true Mutual Game of Killing…."_

"… _I don't understand…" I whimpered, dropping the gun and falling to my knees, "… Junko-Senpai… Why are you showing me this?"_

" _Because I want you to realize what this is about." Junko told me, standing in front of me, "This isn't some game where you can go back and load a past save file… This is real. You could die here in this hotel. Unless…"_

 _Junko knelt down beside me, smiling at me._

"… _Well, I'll let you figure that out for yourself…" she said._

 _She patted me on the back, then stood and said, "Sleep tight…"_

 _I suddenly began to shift back into reality at that…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I regained consciousness as quickly as I had lost it, finding that I was laying on the floor of the hallway, but seemed to be right outside my room.

I pulled myself up, taking a few deep breaths, then got out my room key, unlocked my door, and went inside.

I plopped myself on my bed, just laying there a while until eventually I fell asleep in my clothes.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The next day, I woke up in a haze once again, my slumber having been loose and dreamless.

I sighed, then got up, took off my clothes, then showered, giving a light sigh as the hot water hit my body.

As I washed my body, I kept thinking about my experience last night.

Was it a dream?

Maybe a hallucination?

I couldn't tell…

And frankly, it scared me.

It scared me how real it seemed.

How real the look of terror was on that poor girl's face…

How real the gun felt in my hand…

How real the blood that leaked from her wounds looked…

It all seemed too real…

And Junko-Senpai was so… Calm about it…

Eerily calm…

I soon finished showering, then got out a towel and dried myself off, then went over to my luggage to pick out a new outfit for the day.

I decided to choose an outfit consisting of a form-fitting white and blue striped long-sleeved shirt, a red plaid miniskirt, a pair of bright red tights, a pair of black leather high-heeled boots that went up to my ankles, and a pair of Team Moon charm bracelets on my wrists.

I looked at my reflection in the nearby mirror a moment before styling my hair into it's usual side ponytail, gathered my phone and card key, then went to go start the day.

When I got to the buffet restaurant, I got some breakfast, then went to join Joey and Clarissa at our usual table.

However, something seemed up with Clarissa.

She looked incredibly tired.

Like she barely got any sleep last night.

"You alright, Clari?" I asked her.

"… I'm fine…" Clarissa muttered tiredly, barely eating her breakfast.

"You don't look fine…" I said.

"… I had sleep paralysis last night…" Clarissa murmured.

"It's true." Joey added, "I walked by her room last night to go get a water bottle from the vending machine and I heard her screaming in her sleep."

"You… Heard her?" I asked, "… through the soundproof walls?"

"That's the weird part, actually…" Joey answered, "She had her door open for some reason."

Clarissa yawned, then took a drink from her bottle of fruit juice.

Suddenly, I heard someone kick open the door to the restaurant.

"DID YA MISS ME, YA WANKERS?!"

In the doorway, I saw George burst into the room.

… Holding an AK-47 assault rifle in hand.

"Oh my God, so this is how we die." Joey said, wide-eyed with horror, as Clarissa screamed in terror, as a few other students all screamed in horror or watched with wide-eyes.

George laughed maniacally, then walked over to me and aimed the barrel of the rifle in my face after cocking it.

"Say yer prayers, bitch." George said, then pulled the trigger.

… Only for the rifle to go click.

"… Eh?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I _wish_ I could kill ya…" George shrugged, lowering the rifle, "But the guns here have this sensor on them that disallows them from firing if there's more than two people in a room, or if the headmaster is in the room."

"… How do you know that?" I asked.

"There was a sign in th' Military surplus store that said so." George responded, slinging the rifle on his back, "Seriously, look around this place, won't ya?"

He then went and joined Cecilia and Franklin.

"Well, that's a good reminder that we're alive…" Joey said, "… I'm not really hungry anymore, so Imma go fuck off to the Arcade."

He then left without another word, leaving his tray behind.

I shrugged, then soon finished my own breakfast and left the restaurant.

I knew I had free time today, so I decided to spend it with some of my fellow students.

 **Free Time Start!**

I decided to check on Clarissa to see if she was okay.

I figured what she needed most right now was a friend.

I went to look around her, finding her in the underground mall…

… Standing in front of the display window of a Latex/BDSM Wear shop.

That… seemed so unlike her…

Regardless, I approached her.

"… Clarissa-San?" I greeted.

Clarissa glanced at me tiredly.

"Oh… H-hey Manako…" she greeted.

"I… Are you actually into this sorta thing?" I asked her, gesturing to the store in front of her.

"… Not really…" Clarissa sighed.

"You wanna go do something else?" I asked her.

Clarissa shook her head.

"… Not really…" she murmured.

Suddenly, I got a voicemail notification on my phone, which I checked again.

Strangely, Clarissa also got a voicemail notification as well, as she checked her own phone as well.

The same number as before appeared on the phone screen.

I glanced at Clarissa, who was already listening to the voicemail, then listened to my own voicemail message.

Like before, the message played 'Pumped Up Kicks' all throughout, making me get the same nauseous, migraine-inducing feeling as before.

The world seemed to fade into a haze for a moment, as I felt like I was being pulled somewhere, and I didn't know where I was.

Before too long, I soon found myself in another hotel room, laying on a bed.

I soon realized, however, that my hands were bound to the bedposts by pairs of pink fuzzy handcuffs.

"The hell?" I said aloud.

I soon heard a soft giggling from nearby, followed by soft, slow singing.

"… _All the other kids with the pumped-up kicks better run, better run, run from my gun…"_

Clarissa soon came into my field of vision, sitting next to me on the bed, but she seemed… different.

Her expression wasn't it's typical meek, shy one, but rather one filled with malice and mania.

Blood dribbled from the corners of her eyes, and she had a wide, crazed grin.

"… Clarissa?" I said.

Clarissa held a finger to my mouth, shushing me.

She grinned, then leaned in close to my ear, whispering.

"… Wakey wakey…"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _So yeah, this finally fucking happened._

 _But hey, at least it's finally out, so yeah._

 _Yeah, sorry this took so long._

 _Been playing a lot of Far Cry 4 lately._

 _I know, I play a lot of Far Cry games. It really shows._

 _This is another of those chapters that features events that will also appear in Beninja2618's half of the fic._

 _What those events are you will see in his half of the fic._

 _Also, I'm writing a Bowsette shitpost fanfic, so expect that before too long._

 _That's all for now, folks._

 _*It's Filthy Fox, muthafuckas, It's Filthy Fox, bitch!*_

 _*Let's get some pussy toniiiight*_


	9. Chapter 2: Woke as Fuck

" _Here's where Manako goes berserk…" -Weapon X Foxfurry_

 _Manako: *screams*_

 **Chapter Two Daily Life**

 **Part Three:**

 **Woke as Fuck**

They say when someone is confronted with the possibility of death, rape, or other forms of imminent doom, their mind becomes flooded with options of how to get out of the situation, but their body sometimes refuses to act out of fear.

I, on the other hand, was woke as fuck.

The only thing I knew for sure at this moment was if _Clarissa_ of all people was going to murder or rape me or both, then all bets were off.

Clarissa grinned widely, caressing my cheek.

"C-Clarissa…" I stammered, "What is this? Why am I tied up?"

"To prevent you from getting away, of course…" Clarissa cooed, taking a long sniff of my hair, "… Ohhhh…. Your hair… it smells like strawberries."

"Clarissa, stop it…" I said, "This… This isn't okay…"

Clarissa pulled back, frowning.

She then went over to a nearby chest of drawers, then returned with a ballgag.

"Open." Clarissa said firmly.

My eyes widened with fear at the sight of the BDSM gear, then kept my mouth firmly shut.

Clarissa sighed, then went over and stuffed the gag in my mouth, strapping it on tightly.

"Mmmff!" I cried out, my cries muffled by the ballgag.

"You're way too talkative for your own good…" Clarissa told me, putting a finger to my lips, as if to shush me.

"I could've told you that…" Junko said, approaching from the other side, and also clad in a bright red latex catsuit, high-heeled boots, and had on black lipstick and eyeshadow, and had her hair styled in a Japanese kabuki bun.

Junko smirked, then said, "She used to follow me around like a puppy… A sad-assed, flat-chested, Half-American puppy."

She then suddenly leaned in close to my ear, then whispered, "Don't worry. You're dreaming again."

"Hmf?!" I said in shock.

"You heard me, baby." Junko said, "You're dreaming all of this. This whole thing is just a dream. It's up to you, Ika-Chan, to wake up…"

I looked up at Junko, taking this in.

Junko then giggled, then grinned widely and added, "… Buuuuut, in the meantime…"

She then climbed on top of me, pinning her hands against my forearms and holding down my legs with her own.

"… Let's have some fun, shall we?" she cooed.

She repositioned herself so that she was sitting on top of my legs entirely, then leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"Listen to me, Ika-Chan…" Junko whispered to me, "Strange as it may seem, I'm actually on your side. I've _always_ been on your side. I'm able to put that bit of friction we had between us back in 2015 beind me… Are you able to do the same?"

I blinked, but instinctively nodded.

"Good to know…" Junko whispered, then said to Clarissa, "Go fetch a huge tube of lube for our girl here. She's super tight from my experience."

"You're not the boss of me!" Clarissa growled.

"Bitch, I'll scratch your goddamn eyes out and stick a swizzle stick down your left nipple hole!" Junko screeched, scowling at Clarissa.

Clarissa recoiled, then nodded and ran off to do so.

Junko glanced out of the room as Clarissa left, then came back to me, unlocking my handcuffs with a key and taking the ball gag out of my mouth.

"Thanks Junko-San." I thanked, about to head to the door before Junko stopped me.

"Oh, we're not through yet, sister…" she said, "You might not like this next part…"

She narrowed her gaze at me.

"… _Strip."_ She said flatly.

"EH?!" I exclaimed, "Why?!"

"Because we're gonna swap outfits." Junko said, going over to a box nearby and got out a wig that looked exactly like Junko's typical hairstyle, "You're gonna disguise yourself as me so that you can escape, while I take your place. And since you know me so well, you can probs do a convincing, non-mocking impression of me, yeah?"

"I can try…" I shrugged, then began to undress stripping down to my underwear, as Junko stripped down to her birthday suit.

"Take your bra off." Junko said, "Well, that one, anyway. You know your girl Junko-Chan only wears water bras. Although, honestly, who could ever want to captivate these babies?"

She fondled her own boobs in my face, giggling stupidly.

"Focus, Junko-San…" I said.

"Right, whatever…" Junko shrugged, then went and produced a set of silicone fake breasts, then said, "Put this over your boobs. It'll give you that authentic busty Junko Enoshima look."

I shrugged, then put the fake boobs overtop my real ones, adjusting them so they looked convincing.

"Now the fun begins…" Junko said, tossing me her latex suit, "You remember when we cosplayed Catwoman and Harley Quinn at that Halloween party back in 2014?"

"Yeah, how could I forget it?" I groaned, "You shanghaied me into cosplaying Catwoman because you couldn't fit in the costume because you gained like ten pounds."

"Because we are friends, I'm going to let that slide…" Junko said, "And instead, I want you to squeeze your tiny figure into that latex suit as quickly as you can, because I don't know how long your friend is going to take."

I glanced at the door, then began to slip into the latex suit, managing to put it on and zip it up without much problems.

"Does it fit alright?" Junko asked, having already just finished putting on my clothes, then looked at her own reflection, then said, "Oh wow… Dayum, girl, you be rockin' the classic Team Moon look!"

"You're always welcome to come back to us…" I offered, putting on the wig of Junko's hairstyle, "It's never too late… When I get out of here I can inform the others, and-"

"Manako…"

Junko looked at me, a downcast expression on her face.

"… This may be a dream and I'm not really here, but you and I both know I can't go back… Not after the things I did and said…"

I looked at her as I put on the boots.

I genuinely felt sorry for Junko.

Even though this was a dream, I still felt for her.

Junko then stood, then put on a wig of my hairstyle, then picked up the ballgag.

"Now listen…" she said, "when I put this in my mouth and truss myself up to the bed with the handcuffs, I want you to stay here until your friend returns, at which point, you tell her you got bored and want to leave. After that, you book it and don't look back. Ever. Got it?"

"But-" I began, but Junko then said, "You think this's the first time I've been tied up like that? Seriously, girl. You don't know me at all."

Junko then put the ballgag in her mouth, then strapped it on tightly before laying on the bed and handcuffing herself to the bedposts with the pairs of handcuffs.

She then side-glanced the door, as the doorknob began to turn, at which point Junko mustered up a scared, horrified expression, whimpering and breathing shallow breaths through her nose as she managed a few tears.

I took a breath to steady myself, then mustered up a wide grin and cackled in delight.

"You're gonna get it now, bitch…" I said, doing my best impression of Junko as Clarissa re-entered the room, "That mermaid broad is really gonna fuck yo shit up!"

Junko let out some muffled cries of protest, looking at Clarissa in fear.

I laughed, then walked to Clarissa and said, "All yours, sweetcheeks."

I then walked past Clarissa, heading out of the room and closing the door behind me.

And the minute I closed the door fully, I began running as fast as I could muster from that particular room, basically just running through the halls, looking for some stairs or the elevator.

As I got further from the room, I then yanked off my Junko wig, tossing it aside before looking around.

I seemed to have run very far into a whole other hallway.

One that I didn't recognize at all.

This hallway didn't seem like the hotel at all, but rather seemed more industrial, like the inside of some kind of military building or something.

I slowly walked down the hallway, my high heels clacking against the tiled floor.

However, midway through the hallway, I heard someone say something in my ears.

" _Not yet… You still have so much to do before you're ready for this hallway…"_

A section of the wall slide in front of me, blocking my path forward, but when that happened, a segment of the wall to my immediate right slid open to reveal another hallway, this one appearing to be black lit with black and white tiled floors and plain grey walls.

Cautiously, I began walking down this new hallway, my high heels once again clacking against the tiled floor.

As I went further down the hallway, I noticed more and more writing written on the walls in what I really hoped was fluorescent paint.

Before too long, I reached the end of the hallway, which ended in a door that I could swear I've seen somewhere.

I got chills as I approached the door, trembling with unease as I neared it.

I slowly reached for the handle…

… But then…

"… Sleep Tight…"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I regained consciousness once more, but this time was no where near Clarissa or the Underground mall.

Instead, I seemed to be laying against the door to Clarissa's room in the floor where our suites were.

I pulled myself up, feeling the area around my eyes.

Sure enough, there was a bit of blood around my eyes, signifying that my eyes had been crying blood while I was under.

I then began to stumble back to my room clumsily, going right inside and locking the door behind me.

I leaned against the wall beside my door, eventually sliding down to the floor.

"… What the fuck is going on?" I murmured.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The next day, I woke up in a haze once more, my sleep fevered and dreamless.

I quickly showered, then got dressed.

Today, I had chosen a metallic red lycra catsuit with sleeves that went down to my elbows with a pale rose Team Moon V-neck T-shirt that had a graphic of a chibi bunny character standing next to a mortar and pestle while standing on a cartoonish moon, with the Team Moon logo under it, a pair of metallic pink high heeled-boots, and tied my hair in it's usual side ponytail with a red and black lace bow.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror a moment, admiring myself and posing and smiling, and also managing to take a few selfies of myself before gathering my things and going downstairs to breakfast.

Once at the buffet restaurant, I once again took my seat with Joey, but this time Clarissa wasn't there.

"Where's Clarissa?" I asked Joey.

"You just missed her." Joey answered, "She just came and went."

"I see…" I said, sighing.

"I gotta ask…"

I turned and saw Nathan standing behind me, tilting his head as he got a good look at me.

"… Do you dress yourself in the dark?" Nathan asked facetiously, "Seriously, because I'm really worried you have no fashion sense. I mean, you claim to be some kind of fashion model goddess, but you dress like some Autistic 14-year-old Kid's Cringy Saint's Row 3 OC."

"You play Saint's Row?" Joey asked, as I glared at Nathan.

"I played the third game on PlayStation 3 to completion…" Nathan responded, "All DLC, no cheats, pure skill."

"Wow… That's impressive…" Joey said.

"No one asked you, you Autist." Nathan responded coolly.

"Are you only here to bully me and Joey?" I responded.

Nathan smirked, chuckling at that.

"Oh, the irony in those words…" he said, "But no. I'm not."

Nathan shrugged, rubbing the back of his head.

"As much as I hate this…" he said, "… But when you get a free moment… I need to talk to you… Alone… In your room."

"And why's that?" I asked.

"You fucking find out when we meet, bitch." Nathan responded sharply, "It's important, and as much as it kills me inside, and as strange as it may seem, you're the only one of these other whack-assed mongoloids I actually trust."

He then began to leave, then pointed at me and added, "Remember; Your room. Alone. Just the two of us."

He then left.

"I wouldn't engage him, honestly." Joey responded, "The guy's like Rambo mixed with Ben Shapiro."

"A deadly combination, no doubt…" I sighed, then left the buffet restaurant.

I knew I still had some free time, so I decided to go look for someone to spend it with.

 **Free Time Start!**

I kinda just wandered the hotel a bit before I happened upon Vivian, who was over by the Multinational goods store, looking at a bunch of traditional belly dancer outfits.

"… Hey…" I greeted.

Vivian looked at me, silent.

"… I… Wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier…" she said, sighing, "I get very passionate about my heritage and traditions… And often times I find myself lashing out at people when I do so…"

"I accept your apology." I said with a nod, "I guess we've all been on edge since the last trial…"

Vivian nodded.

"… A dance studio opened here in the underground mall after the trial…" she said, "I was thinking… if you would like… I could teach you how to belly dance."

I blinked.

"… For real?" I asked.

Vivian nodded, smiling.

"Manako… I think you would make an elegant dancer… One worthy of performing for royalty."

I blushed a bit, then smiled.

"Thanks." I said with a bow.

"Good." Vivian said, then said, "Meet me at the studio. I have a pair of outfits we can both use."

"Got it." I said, then went to go find the dance studio in question.

The studio itself was located right in an alleyway in the underground mall that had previously been a dead end.

The sign for the studio was in Japanese, but I managed to translate it as 'MonoBear's Multicultural Dance Studio'.

I went inside, seeing that it looked as most dance studios in America looked; glossy wooden floors, a whole wall made of mirrors, one-way glass windows, a dressing room in the back, and a stereo system where one could play a variety of different traditional and contemporary dance music alike.

I sat on a nearby set of benches in the studio, deep in thought while I waited on Vivian to return.

I kept thinking about my hallucinations from before.

What was all that?

Why is this happening to me?

When did this begin?

And why was Junko-San in my hallucinations?

And what's more, why was Junko-San acting the way she was?

None of this made sense…

Before long, I soon spotted Vivian return with a pair of handbags, smiling at me as she approached.

"I hope I didn't take too long, dearie…" she cooed, "Now then…"

She gestured for me to follow her to the dressing room, which I did, eager to learn how to belly dance.

Once in the dressing room, she set one of the two handbags in front of me.

"This one's yours…" she said, "You may keep it. Consider it a gift from myself."

"Arigato…" I thanked, then looked for a changing screen or something.

"There's no changing screen here, dearie…" Vivian cooed, smirking coyly, "I don't suppose you mind being nude around another woman, do you?"

I blushed a bit.

"… I guess there's no harm in it…" I sighed.

Vivian chuckled, then took off her golden Egyptian crown and choker necklace, then began to daintily undress, as I undressed as well.

The two of us were soon very much naked, me with my light, fair skin, and Vivian with her dark, shiny, ebony skin.

Looking at Vivian, I started to realize she was probably more physically attractive than I…

"Hey…." Vivian cooed, bringing my gaze up to her face, "Eyes up here, darling… Now, let's make you pretty…"

I blushed deeply, then went over to the handbag with my costume in it.

My belly dancer outfit was like that of most Egyptian belly Dancers; long silk skirt that went down to my feet, but allowed free movement, a skimpy silk bra top, a pair of gold bracelets that were connected to the bra top by a pair of silk sashes, a gold, jewel, and silk headdress, and a translucent silk mouth veil, all made with a beautiful, soft, smooth red silk material.

I looked at my own reflection in a nearby mirror, in awe.

I looked back and saw Vivian in her own belly dancer outfit, similar to mine, but in a pale purple silk.

"Oh, you look absolutely luscious, darling…" Vivian cooed, then approached me, getting out a makeup kit, "Now, allow me to do your makeup…"

She gestured for me to sit in front of the vanity, which I did, as she leaned over me and began to liberally apply black Egyptian eyeliner around my eyes.

"I must confide to you, Manako…" she said, "You… Remind me so much of my little sister, Bahiti…"

"I do?" I asked.

Vivian nodded.

"She often came with me on my excursions to Egypt…" she said, finishing with the eyeliner and now applying black lipstick to my lips, "She wasn't particularly into Egyptology like myself, but she loved to dance, and would often talk me into taking her to the local nightclubs in Cairo. Regardless, the two of us loved to dance… We would often practice at our family's penthouse in Manhattan… Not only that, but she would often attend my lectures at the University, even though she wasn't student there…"

She soon finished my makeup, bringing a hand mirror over so I could look at myself.

I now had thick black eyeliner around my eyes in an ancient Egyptian style, and had on glossy black lipstick.

"Whoa…" I said, "I don't even recognize myself!"

"You're beautiful…" Vivian cooed, patting my shoulders gently, then began to lead me to the dance floor outside.

She put a CD into the stereo, making traditional belly dancer music play on it, then daintily sauntered over to me.

"Now then…" she said, turning me so that I faced her, "The most important thing about the Egyptian style of belly dance is that it uses controlled, precise movements…."

She took a deep breath, then daintily raised her hands high above her head, getting on her tiptoes, then began swaying her hips to and fro.

"You must be graceful…" She said, closing her eyes, "Pristine… uniform… Like your own body is no longer your own… Reduced to a mere puppet to be controlled…"

She daintily took my hands in her own, her own hands loose and dainty.

"Dance not for yourself…" she whispered, her hips still swaying, "Dance like you're dancing for someone else… As if being forced to dance… Dance like you're dancing for royalty… Dance… With me, my darling…"

I nodded, then began to mimic Vivian's movements, emptying my mind of all other thoughts other than the music and Vivian's movements.

"That's it…" Vivian said as we danced, "We are pristine… We are uniform… We are but slaves to a greater power… With no control over our bodies and our fates… All we know… All we are… All our purpose is… Is dance…"

Vivian's words seemed to put me at ease, making it easier and easier for me to mimic her dancing.

It was as if I was hypnotized into dancing, like I had no other thoughts in my head besides my dancing.

Before long, the song finally ended, as did our dance.

"Well, that was fun." I said, smiling and looking at Vivian, "I should do this more often."

"I would be more than happy to indulge you when this is over…" Vivian cooed, smiling back.

She then went and turned off the stereo, retrieving the CD.

"How about we take a break?" she asked, "There's a self-serve donut shop right outside. If you wish, we can get some donuts and hot cocoa."

"sure." I said, "But replace the hot cocoa with some La Croix. I love that stuff."

"Maybe some La Croix would be more seasonably appropriate…" Vivian giggled, leading me over to the eatery in question.

The self-serve donut shop was basically a counter with barstools in front of it in the mall with a buffet of donuts at it, as well as a cooler filled with various beverages.

I chose a simple chocolate frosted glazed donut and a can of cranberry La Croix, while Vivian chose a glazed grape jam-filled donut and a bottle of vitamin water.

"Oh, I'm such a bad girl…" Vivian giggled after a single bite of her donut, "Indulging on a fatty, fried donut… I swear, this place will ruin my diet…"

"You're fine, Vivian-San…" I reassured her, "This is just once instance, I'm sure."

Vivian nodded in agreement.

"I will admit, Manako…" she said, "I… I think… You're one of the first girls besides my sister I've become personal friends with…"

I blushed, speechless at this.

Vivian smiled at me.

"I'm sure you'll do great at delivering us from this great evil…" she said.

I nodded.

"I promise you I will…" I said, "No one else will die on my watch."

"Good to know…" Vivian said, smiling.

The two us finished our snack, then went back to the dressing room, got dressed in our normal clothes, then parted ways, both of us taking our handbags with our costumes in them.

I still had some free time, so I decided to find someone else to hang out with.

I soon found Martin over at the atrium, looking at the fake volcano in the set in the middle of the atrium.

He also appeared to be smoking a cigarette.

"Heya, Martin-San…" I greeted.

Martin gave a simple wave of acknowledgement.

"Whatchya doin'?" I asked.

"Eh, jus' hangin' out…" Martin responded.

"mind if I join you?" I asked.

Martin took a drag from his cigarette, then nodded.

I then leaned against the railing next to him.

"So… Volcanoes…" I said, unsure what to talk about.

"Aye…." Martin agreed, "They're necessary force of nature, believe it or not."

"They are?" I asked.

Martin nodded.

"The lava an' ash enrich the soil, makin' the soil around Volcanic mountains very fertile an' perfect fer farmland. Not only that, but volcanoes can create new land around islands."

"Sounds like interesting stuff…" I nodded.

"I actually got me start in volcanology from comin' with me father on expeditions to volcanoes in Iceland… He taught me everythin' I know…. Even showed me how to safely handle molten lava."

He showed me a charm necklace of a Celtic cross he had around his neck.

"He gave me this before me first solo expedition…" he said, "Fer luck, of course."

"I see…" I said, nodding.

Martin sighed, taking another puff of his cigarette.

"… I'll be honest, lass…" he said, "I… Have really bad feelin'… Like somethin's about to happen… Somethin' bad…"

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about…" I reassured.

"I sure hope so, lass…" Martin murmured.

With that, I decided to leave Martin to his own devices.

I began to walk back to my room, when all of a sudden, I got yet another voice mail on my phone.

Seeing it was another unknown caller, I cautiously listened to it.

Once again, I heard a static before the familiar tune of 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster the People began playing.

I froze in place, trembling violently as I felt tears of blood begin to escape my eyes, then felt incredibly nauseous, vomiting on the floor and on myself, attempting to cover my mouth while I vomited.

I felt wobbly and loose as I began to fall to the floor as I heard a voice whisper in my ears…

"… Wakey Wakey…"

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _I seemed to fall right through the floor into a strange space before landing on another floor._

 _I pulled myself up, seeing a black and white tiled floor all around me._

 _I looked around, then began to walk forward._

 _However, after a while of walking, my foot seemed to get stuck on something._

 _Looking down, I saw that a particularly large black tile that I stepped in seemed to bubble and froth, with my feet beginning to sink into it._

" _EH?!" I exclaimed, trying to pull my feet free, but saw that I was quickly sinking into it._

 _Before too long, I was down to my waist in the oily, tar-like substance._

" _H-help!" I shouted, waving my arms to get someone's attention, "Someone, please!"_

 _I continued to sink, soon up to my chest in the thick, sticky black muk, my arms sunk into the puddle as I struggled to stay afloat._

" _Oh God…" I said, tears gushing from my eyes, "I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die…"_

 _My mouth was soon submerged in the puddle, bubbles rising to the surface from my mouth._

 _Finally, I had completely sunk into the puddle, my vision flooded with nothing but an inky black bindfold._

 _I seemed to simply sit there in my inky black tomb, sinking lower and lower into the abyss._

 _All of a sudden, I was once again on solid ground, this time in some kind of cartoonish monochrome-themed factory, with monokuma units walking about, working different machines._

 _I appeared to be clad in some kind of Japanese school uniform bearing the emblem of Hope's Peak._

" _Heya honey." Junko cooed, coming into my vision, dressed in an outfit similar to that of Willy Wonka._

" _Let me guess… I'm dreaming?" I deadpanned._

" _Pfft… What do you think?" Junko shrugged, then offered me a stick of blue gum, then said, "Want some gum? Might take the edge off."_

 _I sighed, then accepted the gum, popping it in my mouth and beginning to chew it._

 _It had a familiar blueberry taste that reminded me of candy from back in Japan._

" _Let me tell you something, Ika-Chan…" Junko said to me, putting a gloved hand on my shoulder, "Dreams like this often reflect our inner struggles or demons… Like, maybe you're just stuck in this killing game and there's nothing you can do except give into that special feeling of despair… That lovely, despair-inducing feeling of true, absolute despair… Yeah… That's the one…"_

 _She chuckled, then roughly patted my back, then asked, "How's the gum?"_

" _Pretty juicy, I'll admit…" I answered, "Kinda reminds me of those gummy candies I had back in Japan."_

 _As I said this, however, I felt an odd pressure in my stomach._

" _Oooh… Junko-San, I feel… Funny…" I murmured._

" _You sure look funny, Ika-Chan…" Junko giggled, bringing a hand mirror to my face._

 _I gasped when I saw my reflection._

 _The middle of my face was turning a dark blue, the dark blue wave quickly spreading all over my skin, dying it a dark blue while dying my hair a dark purple._

 _When that happened, the pressure in my stomach intensified, and as I looked down, I noticed my body was swelling up at a rapid rate._

" _Oh my God…" I said as I quickly began to swell up and inflate, "… Junko, what did you do to me?"_

" _Hey, relax…" Junko reassured, giggling and grinning widely, "It's just a dream, after all…"_

 _Before too long, my entire form had become big, round, and a dark, purplish blue, my swollen form overtaking my limbs and making my hands and feet poke out of my swollen form as I continued to grow and fill up with juice._

 _I flapped my hands feverishly as I continued to grow, closing my mouth quickly as it began to fill with juice, making my cheeks puff out and my lips pucker up._

 _As this happened, my now-purple lips began to rapidly swell up as well, puckering up even more as they became massive and swollen._

 _I gurgled a bit as I continued to grow, now almost as big as a small car._

 _Junko laughed in amusement, then leaned against me._

" _Silly Ika-Chan…" she taunted, "You should know better than to accept candy from strangers…"_

 _She then began rolling me forward as I flapped my hands feebly._

" _Looks like someone's getting nice and full…" Junko cooed, "Better take you to the juicer so that you don't pop!"_

 _I gurgled in response, flapping my hands and feet uselessly as Junko rolled me while I continued to grow big and round._

 _Before too long, I was gigantic in size and almost completely spherical in shape, my head and face nearly sunken into my massive, swollen form._

" _Jeez, Ika-Chan…" Junko grunted, now struggling to roll me even an inch, "You're getting heavy… I can't even move you anymore…"_

 _She then leaned against me as I began to become completely immobile._

" _I guess there's no choice but to let you pop…"_

 _She then stepped back a bit as I began to grow more rapidly, my hands and feet finally being overtaken by my swollen form, and my head and face fully sinking into the top of my perfectly spherical, swollen blue form._

 _My skin was a dark purplish-blue, my uniform had been dyed a number of shades of dark blue, and I was rendered completely immobile, reduced to little more than a gigantic blueberry._

 _I felt very firm and pressurized and almost ready to pop._

 _I gurgled a bit as I sat, feeling myself close to exploding._

 _Then, as I felt my body reaching its limit, I heard a voice whisper in my ear…_

"… _Sleep Tight…"_

 _As I finally exploded, I began to regain consciousness…._

 _\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_

I awoke with jolt and a shriek, panting loudly as I sat up off the floor.

I looked up, and saw that I was right outside the dance studio, with the doors closed.

Time appeared to have passed since I was out, as it was already the next morning.

I pulled myself up, standing shakily on my feet, then opened the door to the dance studio.

When I opened it, I was treated to a horrific sight.

 **Martin was laying on the floor with a knife through his left eye, as well as with several knife wounds on his stomach, and had a cut across the back of his left hand.**

 **Liza was laying in the corner, with her head caved in and bloody, her eyes wide open in a horrified gaze.**

 **Bloody footprints led from Liza's body, then stopped a little bit ways away from her.**

"!"

I gasped in shock and horror, trembling as I covered my mouth with my hand.

What the hell…

What the hell!

I… I failed…

I failed to prevent someone else from dying…

Question is…

Who the hell did this?!

 _To be continued…_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Surprise, motherfucker!_

 _That's right, double murder this chapter!_

 _Betchya didn't see that one comin' huh?_

 _I apologize for the lateness of this chapter._

 _I've been obsessing over Far Cry 4 lately._

 _I think I'm about halfway through the game._

 _Anyways, We got the Bowsette fic coming, and also a secondary project in the works._

 _Be sure to tune in next time._

 _That's all folks, I'm out, peace!_


	10. Chapter 2: Blood on the Dance Floor

" _Pizza Time." -Weapon X Foxfurry_

 **Chapter two investigation**

 **Blood on the Dance Floor**

I still couldn't believe it…

Martin and Liza were both dead…

And I couldn't save them…

As I looked at their dead bodies with tears in my eyes, I kept rationalizing with myself that there could've been something, anything I could've done to save them.

Surprisingly, though, the body found announcement hadn't gone off yet, since I'm the only one who happened upon the bodies.

I had no choice.

I had to go tell the others.

I turned towards the door to go find everyone else…

… Only to be punched in the face by someone.

"!"

I grunted in pain as I staggered to look at my attacker, clutching my left eye where I'd been punched.

My vision was blurry for a moment as I refocused my vision to look over at my attacker.

Yuri pulled me up to my feet, then slammed me against a nearby wall, aiming a suppressed nine-millimeter pistol at my face, shouting at me in Russian.

"Ngh…" I grunted, struggling to look at him.

Yuri growled, then stuck the suppressor of the pistol inside my mouth, aiming at the roof of my mouth.

"Tell me…" Yuri snarled, speaking in English this time, "Confess to me that you killed her… So that I can send you to God myself…"

There was the sound of the pulling of a hammer on a pistol behind Yuri suddenly.

"… She didn't do shit, Ruski…" Nathan said in a warning tone, aiming a .45 caliber handgun at the back of Yuri's head.

Yuri glanced at Nathan, then smirked.

"… You'd really shoot me?" he taunted, "Here? In the middle of a mutual game of killing?"

"Only to stun, not to kill…" Nathan responded, "Do not test me, Russian. After all, there's two other people besides me in this room, yourself included."

"You really think shooting me will save her?" Yuri asked, turning away from me and taking the pistol barrel out of my mouth.

"Well, it sure as hell won't save those two, that's for sure." Nathan responded, gesturing to Martin and Liza's bodies.

" _Two Bodies have been found! Two Bodies have been found!"_ shouted Monokuma's voice over the intercom.

"… Looks like you got 30 seconds before other students start piling in here…" Nathan warned, "If you wanna remain unharmed, let the bitch go."

"Why do you even care? I thought you hated her?"

Franklin entered the room, accompanied by Cecilia and George, the latter of whom had the same AK-47 rifle as before on him.

They were soon followed by the other students.

"Oh my Gawd!" Kelly exclaimed, wide-eyed with shock at the grisly sight before her.

"Liza…" Clarissa murmured, covering her mouth in horror.

Johan seemed stunned into silence, especially at Liza's death.

"she's just a kid…" Eleanor said, stunned.

"What about Martin, man?" Joey said, "Like, is no one gonna focus on the fact that he got killed, too?"

"Well, that's besides the point…" Franklin mused.

"Boy, this one's a grisly one, huh?"

Monokuma popped up from nowhere, like he always tends to do.

"Not only that…" he added, "But I think it's time I revealed the delightful motive that I had in play for this one!"

His red eye glinted a moment.

"… A few select students here were infected with a special new hallucinogenic drug developed specifically for this killing game! We call it: Desparemine!"

"A drug?" I wondered aloud.

Could that be what was causing me to black out this whole time?

"Yup!" Monokuma said, "It not only causes intense, highly-realistic hallucinations, but it also causes whoever ingests it to be highly open to suggestion, like hypnosis, or brainwashing! And, it can also be administered through physical contact with the skin!"

Monokuma laughed a moment.

"Now, as for how you figure who got drugged up and how it happened, that's completely up to you…" he said, "But remember, you still have to investigate this murder, so, since it'll prolly take you a while to investigate the murders and figure out who got infected, I'm gonna give you extra time! About thirty extra minutes, to be exact!"

"Say, Monokuma…" Franklin said suddenly, "Not to interrupt…"

"Naw, fam, you're good." Monokuma said dismissively, "I was done with my statement, anyway."

"Indeed…" Franklin said, "Tell me… Is there a rule against interrogating other students?"

"Not really…" Monokuma answered, "Why? You plannin' on doin' some Zero Dark Thirty shit?"

"Not really…" Franklin answered, glancing at me, then smirking, "… But I'm confident the other students will cooperate with me after I take control of the investigation."

"What?" Nathan snarled, as Yuri went over to Franklin, Ceciilia, and George.

I looked over at the four with scrutiny.

"Looks like someone better call Keemstar…" Monokuma mocked, "Because it looks like there's some major Dramalert about to happen!"

He then teleported away, just as everyone got an alert on their phones from the Student Handbook app, signifying the Monokuma report had been sent to everyone.

"alright everyone, listen up!" Franklin spoke, "As of right now, I am taking full control of this investigation. As such, me and my cohorts here will take each of you aside for questioning."

"Unless you've forgotten…" Nathan responded, "There was only one cop among us, and she died first."

"True…" Franklin responded, "… But as Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecution office of the Nevada State Department of Justice, it is within my authority to assume full authoritative supervision of an investigation within my jurisdiction."

Nathan looked at the four with scrutiny as well.

"… So, it's finally happened…" he said, "All that planning… All that hanging around each other constantly… All leading up to this grand reveal of your little Axis of Despair…"

"Call it whatever you want…" Franklin said with a smirk, "The point is that we are taking control of the investigation, so you better all cooperate, or else."

"Or what? You'll kill us?" Nathan responded.

Franklin chuckled.

"Let's just say… I won't be held accountable for any misfortune that befalls you all if you resist…" he said.

Suddenly, Cecilia was behind Nathan, holding a steel tactical knife to his throat.

"Time to put the piece down, Chico…" she cooed.

Suddenly, Clarissa came forward and punched Franklin in the face, knocking him flat on his rear.

"How dare you!" she growled, glaring at him, "Liza and Martin are dead and you want to threaten us into submission?! How fucking low can you get?!"

Franklin pinched his bleeding nose as Clarissa stood over him.

"Let me tell you something…" she hissed, "I will not stand by and let my friends be harassed and threatened by some corrupt lawyer who thinks he can bully and harass people into cooperating with him…"

Franklin glared at Clarissa a long moment as he stood up.

"… Very well…" he finally said, "… Me and my cohorts will conduct our own personal investigation…"

He looked over to Cecilia and nodded.

Cecilia then sheathed her knife, then went over to Franklin's side.

George then slung his AK rifle on his back, as Yuri holstered his pistol.

"… Just know this, Miss Arden…" Franklin said to Clarissa, "… You will come to regret striking me like that… I promise you."

He then left with his entourage in tow.

Clarissa looked back at me and the others.

"… I… I'm sorry…" she apologized, "I just… I couldn't let him disrespect Martin and Liza like that…"

"You did fine…" Vivian reassured her, gently hugging her.

"So, I guess we have to investigate, huh?" Joey said.

"Seems that way, kid…" Eleanor mused, then smiled confidently while flexing her muscles, "Nothin' we can't handle, tho! We're better than that corrupt soyboy and his little posse!"

"Indeed." Belle added, smiling, "Pardon my French, but we're gonna show that cockmonger up good!"

"Hell yeah!" Kelly added enthusiastically, "An' with Manako leading us, we're sure to ace this shit!"

Everyone looked at me expectantly, as Nathan looked at me with disdain.

I… I don't deserve this.

I don't deserve their support.

Not after all I've done to Nathan…

Not after failing to protect those that have died thus far…

…

…

… I had to do it.

I had to come clean.

I finally had to tell the truth.

"… Guys…" I began, "… I appreciate the support… But… I'm… Not really the kind of person who should be leading you all…"

"What do you mean?" Belle asked, "You're the perfect person for it! After all, you're so talented and-"  
"There's something I need to tell you all…" I interrupted, "Something about my past that I neglected to tell you all before…"

I glanced at Nathan a moment, who looked somewhat surprised.

"… Years ago…" I went on, "… When I was a kid… A dumb, stupid, ignorant kid… I… Used to bully Nathan viciously…"

Everyone listened in silence.

"… I constantly bullied him, finding new and more vicious ways to bully him… One day… I… Bullied him so badly… That the next day…"

Tears came to my eyes as I continued.

"… He almost brought a handgun to our school to shoot me…"

Everyone looked stunned.

"… I don't deserve to be leader…" I said, then gestured to Nathan, "… If anything, Nathan-San deserves to lead us more than I do…"

"… Manako…"

Johan approached me, gently holding my hand.

"… What you just did took more courage than anyone could ever muster…" he said, smiling, "It takes a lot of courage to admit when we're wrong… That… Is a sign that you are a better leader for us."

I blinked, looking at the others.

They all seemed to have understanding expressions on their faces.

Nathan put his hand on my shoulder suddenly.

"… That… Is all I wanted from you…" he said, "… to publicly admit what you did… Now… You have to go the full nine yards and-"

"I'm sorry, Nathan…" I interrupted, turning to him, "… I… I'm so sorry for what I did back then… I… I deserve every bit of the insults and mocking you gave me…"

"Manako…"

Nathan looked into my eyes, then pulled me into an embrace.

"… I forgive you." He said, "… And I will do my best to help you see this through…"

I looked at him, then nodded.

"… Let's do our best." I said, then turned to the others, "Alright, guys… Let's start the investigation… For Liza and Martin's sakes!"

Everyone cheered in agreement.

 **Investigation Start!**

I first started by taking a look at the Monokuma file on the two murders.

 **The first Victim is Martin McKenzie, the SHSL Volcanologist.**

 **He was found in the dance studio in the Underground Mall.**

 **The cause of death is a singular stab through his eye into his brain.**

 **There appears to be several stab wounds on his stomach, as well as a singular cut across the back of his left hand.**

 **His time of death was 8:32 PM**

 **The second victim is Elizabeth "Liza" Song, the SHSL Folk Dancer**

 **She was also found in the dance studio in the Underground Mall.**

 **the cause of death is Blunt Force Trauma with a blunt instrument.**

 **there appears to be a few bruises on the palm of her right hand and under her left forearm.**

 **Her time of death was 8:38 PM.**

I looked over at the two lifeless bodies of two of my fellow classmates.

I decided to start with Martin, since he appears to have died first.

I saw that Joey and Hana were examining Martin's body.

"Ah, Manako-San." Hana said, bowing, "So, you decided to aid the Emissary of Nekomata-Hime, yes?"

"... Sure." I said, "So, what do we know about Martin's death so far.

"Well, there is the big ol' Tanto knife stuck through Martin's eye." Joey said, pointing, "... Hey, Hana… Don't you have like two Tanto knives on hand?"

"Hai." Hana nodded, "However, the ones I carry on me are merely props, so they could never hurt anyone nearly as bad as Martin-San."

"'Tanto knife…'" I murmured, then took a picture of the knife with my phone camera.

 **Evidence get: Tanto Knife**

My eyes then gravitated to the wound on Martin's hand.

"... Looks like there must've been a struggle…" I said.

"Or at least, maybe he tried to block one of the initial attacks with his hand." Hana said.

she pointed at the wound.

"Look at the direction of the slash itself…" she went on, "Based on how the slash went, it's evident that Martin used a common block utilized for the purpose of Self-defense combat."

"'Self-Defense?'" I asked.

Hana nodded.

"Martin once told me in confidence that his uncle was in the IRA at the time of the Irish Resistance against British rule in Ireland back in the 1980's." she said, "He taught him a lot of different self-defense techniques."

"Why would he do that?" I wondered aloud.

"He never said…" Hana answered, shaking her head, looking over at Martin's still form solemnly, "... And now we never will…"

 **Evidence Get: Self-Defense wounds**

 **Evidence Get: Hana's Account**

Suddenly, without warning, she drew one of her two katanas, holding it in a Japanese sword fighter's stance.

"Manako Kumara…" she said, her eyes narrowed in a glare, "Let us both solve this murder and avenge Martin-San and Liza-San!"

"Sure thing, Obito." I said sarcastically, but in a way that Hana could infer was also genuinely joking.

Hana nodded, then smirked widely.

"This demon with a heart as black as night who committed this deed most foul will pay with their lives! Lady Nekomata _will_ get her fill of blood tonight!"

"Okay then…" I said.

While she seemed passionate on finding out who the blackened was this time, Hana seemed like she was a little _too_ into it.

Regardless, now that I was done examining Martin's Body, I decided to examine Liza's body next.

I took a deep breath to prepare myself, then walked over to Liza's still form.

once over there, looking at it was still no easy task.

she looked like she had been absolutely horrified at the time of her death.

Nathan, Clarissa, and Eleanor were over by Liza's body.

"... She… Looks like she was frightened…" I said.

"... It's not fair…" Clarissa said, sniffling, "She was a _child_."

"The youngest of our group…" Nathan mused, "The strong has once again preyed on the weak…"

I went silent at that.

"... Hey, Manako…" Nathan said suddenly, "... You were here first… I'm surprised you didn't notice…"

"... Notice what?" I asked.

"Look again at Liza's eyes…" he said, pointing.

I looked again at Liza's eyes and gasped.

blood appeared to have been bleeding out of Liza's eyes before her death.

"I saw a pile of vomit in a trash bin by the door…" Nathan added, "... I think she might have been one of the ones infected with Despairemine."

he glanced at Clarissa and Eleanor a moment, then leaned in close to my ear.

"And to tell the truth…" he added in a whisper, "... I have reason to believe you were infected, too."

I almost gaped in shock, but Nathan quickly said, "No one noticed yet. Don't make a scene. I'll explain that to everyone when the time comes."

"... I'm going to investigate outside…" Clarissa said suddenly.

"... Are you sure?" Nathan asked her, "Franklin seemed very serious about the threat he made towards you."

Clarissa shook her head.

"We can't all investigate in the same place." she said, "There has to be evidence elsewhere in the building as well."

"... Well, I won't stop you if that's what you're asking…" Nathan sighed, "... Do as you wish. All I ask is that you be careful."

Clarissa nodded, then left the studio.

"Why would you just let her go like that?" I asked.

"With how good of friends you two are…" Nathan said, smiling slightly, "... I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"Notice what?" I pressed.

"Clarissa… Seems to be becoming more independent and confident." Nathan answered, "A huge contrast to how she was when she first got here. In any case…"

Nathan looked Liza's body over.

"... Hey, Eleanor." he said to the SHSL Wrestler.

"Yeah?" Eleanor asked.

"You're the expert on bashing people with steel folding chairs…" Nathan said, then pointed to Liza's bruises, "Explain that."

"Well, based on how th' bruises are laid out…" Eleanor said, "It looks like she tried to block some of the blows with her hands…"

she demonstrated by covering her head in face like she was trying to block someone from bashing her head in.

"... Like this." she said, "Trust me, I've seen plenty of Newbie wrestlers back in training camp who did this at first. That, and I starred in an episode of a Starz Crime drama that featured a graphic police brutality protest scene. Speaking of…"

she gestured to the death blow wound on Liza's head.

"This wound…" she said, "... Looks like it was dealt with a small, but thin blunt instrument, like a baton or a socket pipe."

"A baton, huh?" Nathan mused, "Well, there _is_ a military surplus store within walking distance that stocks those."

 **Evidence Get: Liza's Bruises**

 **Evidence Get: Eleanor's account**

It was at that that I remembered something.

"... The Tanto knife used to kill Martin…" I said aloud, "... They had a few of those on display at the international goods store…"

"They did, huh?" Nathan mused, "... You think Hana would know anything about that?"

I shook my head.

"she said the ones she carries are harmless props." I said.

"... no offense, Manako…" Nathan said calmly, "But… No, you're right… I'm prolly just jumping to conclusions."

"No, it's okay." I reassured, "I'm trying to be more open-minded towards you."

Nathan seemed genuinely stunned by this.

"... Well, at the risk of racial profiling…" he said, rubbing the back of his head, "... I think, just to be safe, you might want to ask Hana what she was doing at the time of the murder."

"I suppose I could…" I sighed, "... You mind coming with me?"

"Yeah." Nathan said, then said to Eleanor, "You guard the body. I'm gonna go with Manako to do some more investigation."

"Yes sir." Eleanor said, smirking and flexing her muscles, "No one's gonna get past The Tigress!"

"... Sure thing." Nathan said, then gestured for me to follow him, which I did, even though he passed right by Hana.

"Hey, what about-" I began, but Nathan interrupted with, "Forget it. I have a hunch…"

"What about?" I asked, curious.

"You remember the bloody footprint by Liza's body?" he asked.

I nodded.

"You remember what direction it was facing?" he asked.

I thought a moment, then remembered.

"... Towards the front entrance to the studio." I said.

"And what's right across from the studio?" Nathan said.

I looked straight ahead once we were out of the studio.

"... The Donut counter!" I exclaimed.

Nathan smiled.

"You really are perceptive…" he said, chuckling, "Maybe I won't have to babysit you in the next trial."

"Experience is often the best teacher…" I mused, walking over to the counter, seeing that there was a 'kitchen area' behind the counter accessible by a side door marked 'Employees only'.

He jiggled the handle a moment, then opened the door when he was certain it was unlocked.

"Wait, so, anyone can just walk into these places?" I asked.

"Well, judging by the way the eateries are laid out, I think there's only _one_ employee…." Nathan said, stepping into the kitchen of the donut shop, as I did the same.

it was then that I saw UsagiKuma over by the stock closet, wearing a donut shop work uniform over her bunny costume.

"Oh, h-hey Nathan-Kun, Manako-San…" UsagiKuma said, "What're-"

"Save it. we're here to look around." Nathan responded.

"Oh… W-well, go right ahead." UsagiKuma said, stepping to the side so we could look.

Looking around, I noticed there was a few lumps of dough on one of the counters, waiting to be molded into donuts.

on the counter facing away from the selection display in front, I noticed something up with one of the fryers.

it was bubbling quite a bit, but it also seemed like there was something submerged in the boiling-hot cooking oil.

"... Hey, UsagiKuma…" I said, "... You mind turning off the fryer for us?"

"So you can look inside it?" UsagiKuma said, "I can… But it might take a while for the oil to cool down."

"Well, since you're the android among us, I suppose you wouldn't mind digging around in there and pulling out whatever you find in there, would you?" Nathan mused.

"... H-hai…" UsagiKuma said, nodding.

she then went over to the fryer, then stuck one of her hands deep into the boiling oil, using it to dredge the bottom of the fryer.

I knew she was an android, but it still made me wince a bit at the sight of Miss UsagiKuma sticking her whole hand in boiling cooking oil.

It was like something fresh out of an episode of Jackass.

I soon saw UsagiKuma gain a look of surprise as she quickly pulled two objects out of the fryer.

inside were a side-handled police baton and a pair of long silk gloves that looked like they'd been completely ruined by the oil

 **Evidence Get: Police Baton**

 **Evidence Get: Gloves**

"Looks like the murderer was in a rush to dispose of the evidence…" I said.

"Hey."

I looked over at Nathan, seeing he was out in the mall again, looking at a nearby trashcan.

I went right over to him, as he pointed inside the wastebin.

When I looked, inside was a shiny pale purple latex full-bodysuit with short sleeves.

there appeared to be blood all over the front of it.

 **Evidence Get: Latex suit**

"Murder and Latex…" Nathan mused, "A little _too_ kinky if you ask me…"

I nodded in agreement.

"... I never did like modeling latex…" I said, "Not since my days as Ika-Chan."

"The rubbery squid pop star girl?" Nathan asked, "... Alright… This's gonna sound weird and hypocritical… But… I actually liked your music back then… Y'know, when you were Ika-Chan. I don't understand why you don't like it."

"You kidding? I _hated_ it." I said, "The songs were childish and cringy, the latex suit, makeup, and prosthetics were uncomfortable and hot, I had to struggle against the costume in order to perform all the dance moves that went with the songs, and above all, my fanbase consisted primarily of nerdy preteen girls, lonely 40-year-old female secretaries, and fat, glasses-wearing weeaboo boys. It reasons like that that I transitioned to modeling and vlogging."

"I see…" Nathan said, looking down, "... Well… I mean, if you genuinely hate it, that's fine… But personally…"

he held my hand in his own.

"... I think after this killing game… It's high time Ika-Chan made a comeback."

I felt myself blush, my back stiffening a bit.

"... Y-you really think so?" I asked.

Nathan nodded.

"I may not be a fat, glasses-wearing weeaboo…" he said, smiling, "... But, I do happen to be a fan of your music…"

he then chuckled a moment, then added, "Plus, I once wrote to you when I was younger to ask you to perform at my thirteenth birthday party."

"You did?" I asked, blinking, "Oh, um… About that… I…"

I shuffled a bit, rubbing the back of my head.

"... I… Kinda closed my fan mail P.O. box after someone proposed to me via a very creepy letter and a plastic ring straight out of a gachapon machine… So I might not have gotten it…"

Nathan blinked, then laughed in amusement.

"It's not funny!" I said, "The letter was from a 28-year-old man from Shinjuku! It was super-creepy!"

"No, it's just…" Nathan said after catching his breath from laughing, "I dunno, I just thought it was funny."

"Can we just get back to the investigation?" I asked, a little irritated, "We… We can talk about Ika-Chan's comeback later."

"So Ika-Chan _is_ coming back…" Nathan said, smiling coyly, "I guess years of living in America couldn't keep the Rubber Squid Princess of J-Pop away from the mic for long, huh?"

"Nathan…" I said irritably, "I _don't_ want to talk about Ika-Chan right now…"

"Right, right… Murder investigation and all that…" Nathan said dismissively.

Nathan was quiet a moment.

"... I just had this crazy thought, Manako…" he said.

"... Go on." I said, blinking.

Nathan gestured for me to follow him, and proceeded to lead me back to the dance studio, revealing that pretty much everyone else had gone off to investigate elsewhere.

"Okay, what is your thought?" I asked.

"Alright, so…" Nathan began, "You notice how there isn't a lot of, for lack of a better term, 'Blood on the Dance Floor?'"

"... A band name I never thought I'd hear again, but go on…" I said.

"Well…" Nathan said, thinking a moment, then said, "... alright, we may need to go into the actual mall and buy a few things."

"... Nathan…" I said.

"Just two, I swear." Nathan assured, "Maybe batteries, too, depending…"

"We don't have time for this, Nathan!" I protested.

"You wanna solve this murder or not?" Nathan asked.

I sighed in irritation.

"Manako… you have to trust me on this." he said, "I know that's a whole new thing to you as of a few minutes ago, but you have to do it. Do you trust me?"

Nathan held his hand out to me.

This… Was a whole new side of Nathan I was seeing…

… Well, actually…

To tell the truth….

… This is kind of how he was when we were kids.

Before we both changed…

"... I trust you." I said finally.

Nathan nodded, then began to lead me out of the dance studio and through the mall, stopping first at a Educational Toy Store.

It was frankly called 'Smartass's Store of Naw-ledge'.

"... Nathan, I'm getting some major Tai Lopez vibes with that store name…" I said.

"I think they're trying to go for that WETA's Store of Knowledge from when we were kids." Nathan said, leading me inside, "These places practically went out of style when I started Junior High. Or at least, the one at the mall back when I lived near D.C. went out of business. It's kinda refreshing to see a store like it nowadays."

in the store was a lot of 'educational toys' of higher tiers of ones you'd normally see at craft stores.

They had ant farms, sea monkey kits, junior chemistry sets, books that taught you how to build electronic devices like handheld fans or sunglasses with windshield wipers on them out of just stuff you had laying around the house and at your local Radio Shack (Now, _there's_ a name I bet all you top-tier people haven't heard in ages), and also a few brand-name toys, although it mostly had Lego sets, more specifically, it had those Mindstorms sets that were expensive as hell and literally no one bought.

… I feel like garbage for actually knowing that…

"Jeez, I actually remember going to places kinda like this in Japan…" I admitted, "There was this place over in Yogen-Juyen that had this small store that had a bunch of toys kinda like the stuff here, but not of big-name brands. The only big-name brand toys they stocked were ones they imported from America and Europe. The main bummer about the western stuff was that since it was imported, they had you pay extra for a set of Japanese instructions, and it was typically this homemade booklet of the same instructions, but in Japanese and poorly-rendered JPEGs of the pictures in the english instructions."

"Good thing we have the internet…" Nathan mused, then picked out a Black Light wand and a package of AA batteries.

"A Blacklight?" I wondered aloud.

"You'll see after we get the other thing at the housewares store." Nathan assured, paying for the items at the self-checkout counter using an app on his phone.

after that, he quickly led me to a housewares store in the mall frankly titled 'House of the Wives'.

"That is a _shockingly_ sexist Store name…" I said, frowning.

"You realize who set all this up for us, right?" Nathan reminded.

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair…" I sighed as he led me inside.

the store itself was basically like a Bed, Bath, and Beyond but with a wider selection.

Anyways, Nathan went over to the house chemicals section and picked out a spraybottle of Luminol.

I blinked, confused.

"Seriously?" Nathan said, "You don't already know where I'm going with this?"

"Nathan, I'm so jaded from all this murder shit that I rarely know what the fuck is going on anymore…" I sighed.

"Whatever, let me just pay for this and we'll go back to the crime scene." he shrugged.

after once again paying for the items using his phone at a self-checkout station, he led me back to the dance studio, where still no one was around.

"Okay…" Nathan said, getting out the luminol bottle first, "So, Manako, tell me… What do you know about black lights?"

"That they're stupid and only stoners and ravers hang those thing in their rooms…" I shrugged.

"True…" Nathan said, then began lightly spraying the Luminol all over the floor where he thought the bloody footprint was pointed, "But… Wait until… You see… this."

he then got out the blacklight and turned it on, then shone it over the spots where he sprayed the Luminol.

when he did this, a bunch of brightly-colored bluish-purple footprints appeared, seeming to glow from the light from the black light.

"Whoa…" I said, impressed, "... Nathan, how… Did you know how to do this?"

"I watch a lot of Crime Investigation shows on TV." Nathan admitted, "But yeah, tell me what you notice about our culprit's footprints."

"Well, they look like they were made while the culprit was wearing the latex suit…" I said, "But why clean up most of them and just leave one? Not only that, why leave the pools of blood by Martin and Liza's bodies?"

"Because pools of blood under dead bodies are ambiguous and leave much to the imagination." Nathan answered, "trails of bloody footprints, however… Well, you can tell easily how rushed the killer was in cleanup."

 **Evidence Get: bloody footprints**

I was genuinely stunned.

Nathan really knew his shit…

Kinda makes me feel bad about bullying him like I did…

I then side glanced where Liza's body was, then noticed something.

I blinked, approaching the area, spotting what appeared to be a small floor-height crawlspace cabinet under one of the wall mirrors.

the cabinet door was wide-open, and from the way Liza's body was positioned…

"... Hey, Nate?" I said.

"Yeah, Mana-Chan?" Nathan asked.

I gave him a look when he said my nickname.

"... Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were using nicknames." Nathan said with a chuckle.

I shook my head, giving a smile.

"It's alright, I don't mind." I said, "But no, look at this…"

I pointed at the cabinet, then at Liza's position.

"... You thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.

"That Liza was pulled out of that cabinet and senselessly beaten to death?" Nathan asked bluntly.

 **Evidence get: floor cabinet**

I nodded, then spotted something in the corner of the cabinet.

I poked my head in the cabinet, using the flashlight on my phone for illumination.

the smell of urine quickly filled my nose.

"Oh, my, fuck…" I said, gagging a bit as I almost felt myself vomit a few times.

I guess this is how it feels to be IdubbbzTV in one of his Bad Unboxing videos…

 **Evidence get: Urine smell**

"What, does it smell?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, no fucking shit…" I said, spitting up a little bit of vomit on the floor in front of me, "... Maybe I shouldn'tve had chicken soup for lunch yesterday…"

"Gross." Nathan said wryly.

I shook my head, then reached my hand inside the cabinet, then felt something small, rubbery, and round inside.

I grabbed the object and quickly pulled it out.

it was a small vinyl cell phone ornament of a chibi squid girl with bright metallic pink tentacles for hair, bright purple anime eyes, fangs in her mouth, black lips, and a shiny, glossy, almost rubbery-looking face, almost like she was some kind of rubber doll.

I cringed when I realized what this was.

"... Is that a Ika-Chan cellphone ornament?" Nathan wondered.

I cringed, nodding.

 **Evidence Get: Ika-Chan Cellphone ornament**

"... I just want to be done with this stupid, childish, cringy rubber-comprised bitch…" I sighed.

"Well, I guess that's why Ika-Chan needs to make a comeback…" Nathan assured, "So that she can appeal to older, more mature fans that were fans of Ika-Chan when they were kids, and newer, mature fans from this current generation. I mean… She's a cutesy, magical squid girl made entirely of rubber. Can you imagine how much that would appeal to teens and young adults under 21 these days?"

"Yeah. I can." I said, "And that's the problem. Ika-Chan was a stupid kid's idol from the mid-2000's that should've just stayed obscure… Like Barney or Arthur."

"Hey!" Nathan warned, "You watch your mouth about Arthur. He is a goddamn National Treasure here."

"He hit his little sister for breaking his stupid toy plane." I said flatly.

"Hey, to be fair, D.W. is always fucking getting his go-I'm sorry, does this even matter right now?" Nathan responded, "We're supposed to be investigating right now."

"You're the one who keeps bringing up Ika-Chan!" I hissed.

"She's the idol we need right now." Nathan defended.

"She's a corporate real doll." I responded, "Literally created in a meeting room to use her body to sell albums and products."

"She's an Alien Princess from a faraway planet who came to earth to spread joy to the young people of earth." Nathan said.

I groaned, then said, "Nathan, I'm dropping this and instead going to focus on the case. You're really being-"

"'Annoying?'" Nathan responded, a more serious, accusatory tone in his voice, "... That's why you bullied me, right? Because I was annoying and loud and you could get away with it because your dad was the principal of the school?"

"..."

I went silent, looking down.

"... Nathan…" I said, "... I'm sorry…"

"It's alright…" Nathan assured, "It's officially behind us now…"

it was at that moment that a chime went through the hotel, followed by the intercomm turning on.

" _Attention students!"_ Monokuma spoke via the intercom, " _Investigation time is over! Please proceed to the courtroom elevator for the trial!"_

"I guess that's us…" Nathan sighed, standing, "C'mon. Best not to keep Winnie the Upupupuu bear waiting."

I nodded, standing.

as the two of us walked towards the Monokuma statue in the casino, something kept nagging at me.

Like something was wrong.

Or that we were forgetting something…

when we got there, we saw pretty much everyone else was there…

… Except…

"... Hey…" I said, approaching Joey, "Where's Clarissa?"

"Dunno…" Joey said, "But wherever she is, she better show up soon… According to the rules, Participation in the Trials is mandatory…"

I blinked, then got out my phone and looked through the rules in the handbook app until I found the rule in question…

 **Rule #7:** **Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.**

"... What's the punishment for not showing up to a trail?" I asked Joey.

"Uhhh…" Joey said nervously, "... Well, earlier Monokuma said that not showing up to a class trial is punishable by… Well… Death…"

I stiffened, going cold with fear.

… No.

I _will not_ lose another friend to this killing game.

"... Joey…" I said to Joey, "Listen to me carefully… Where was the last place you saw Clarissa?"

"I… I dunno…" Joey said, shaking his head, "... Y-you don't… think she's…"

I saw Nathan glance at Franklin, glaring at him from afar.

"... that son of a goddamn whore…" Nathan growled, then grabbed me by the hand and led me on, "C'mon. We're going to go look for her."

"But, what about-" Joey called after us, but I interjected with "Stall Monokuma! Anything to buy us more time!"

"What's this about stalling me?"

Monokuma popped out in front of me and Nathan.

"Monokuma, we're not in the mood right now." Nathan said flatly.

"Look, I don't give a single shit about any of you bastards." Monokuma mocked, "I could literally have all of you killed right now and still be able to sleep at night."

"Monokuma-San, we need to find Clarissa!" I pleaded, "I… I think something happened to her…"

"Oh? Foul Play, perhaps?" Monokuma mused, "Oh, how I love me some dramatic tension! Alright, I'll give you both twenty minutes and not a minute more. After that, I'm killing her."

I nodded, then Nathan began to lead me through the hotel hallways once more.

"Shit, this place is huge…" I said, "how are we gonna find her?"

Nathan stopped a moment, thinking.

"Nate, we don't have time for this!" I shouted.

"... I think I may know where she is…" Nathan said, then without another word, he began to lead me forward once more.

I followed him, and before long, he led me to the basement area, running up to the door to the supply closet.

he pounded on the door.

"Clarissa!" He called.

"... Help!" Clarrisa called from behind the door, pounding on it as well.

Nathan jiggled the handle to the closet.

"Dammit, it's locked!" he cursed.

"What do we do?!" I screamed.

Nathan then pulled his .45 pistol from it's holster on the back of his belt.

"Easy…" he said, aiming the pistol at the doorknob and pulling the hammer, "We call in a favor from John Moses Browning."

He managed to fire a single shot at the doorknob, successfully breaking it off and unlocking the door.

He then kicked the door down, revealing Clarissa standing in the closet, tears in her eyes.

"Clari!" I exclaimed, running to her aid, "Oh, shit, Clari, you're bleeding!"

sure enough, the back of Clarissa's head was in fact bleeding from a head wound, possibly from being knocked out.

"Did you see who hit you?" Nathan asked her.

Clarissa shook her head, clutching something in her right hand.

"... Clarissa…" I said, "... what's that in your hand."

Clarissa recoiled a bit, but then held her hand out to me and showed me what she was holding.

my eyes widened.

"... that's…" I said.

 **Evidence get: Liza's Cellphone**

"... Th-there was a picture on it…" Clarissa stammered.

"We'll look at it when we get back to the others." I assured her, then began to lead her back to the other, although Nathan seemed to move at a faster pace.

when we returned to the others, I saw Nathan storm over to Franklin.

"Back already?" Franklin said coolly, "Honestly… The favoritism for you and your-"

Nathan suddenly whirled around and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to Franklin's face, flooring him instantly in a way that would make even Jean Claude Van Dam jealous.

"Whoa! Dude!" Joey exclaimed, shocked.

Franklin winced and reeled from the blow, but before he could fully get up, Nathan quickly grabbed him in a hold with one hand and his foot, while aiming his .45 pistol at the back of Franklin's head.

"If you _ever_ pull that shit again…" Nathan snarled, "... If you so much as look at my friends the wrong way… You're gonna wake up on the floor with a mouthful of broken teeth. Am I clear?"

"... Y-you-" Franklin stammered, but Nathan tightened his hold, then pulled the hammer of his pistol.

"Am. I. Clear?" Nathan repeated.

"... Y-yes…" Franklin finally said, at which point Nathan let go of him with a shove, then holstered his pistol.

"... Now that we're clear on that…" Nathan spoke, "... I think it's time we expose this murderer for who they are…"

I nodded, as myself and I headed down the stairs to the elevator.

during the entire ride down the elevator, not a single word was spoken by anyone.

I took this time to collect my thoughts.

Martin…

Martin was generally quiet, but when he did speak, he spoke the truth, no matter how badly it hurt.

He contributed a sense of intellect that kept us from going over the brink of chaos and collapse.

Liza…

Liza always tried to think positively, and provided a child-like wonder that we desperately needed to keep our feet on the ground.

This murderer… No… this _monster_ murdered both of them in cold blood.

One.

After.

The Other.

I can't ever forgive that, no matter who the blackened is.

…

…

Once again, two of us have been murdered…

… And once again, one of us…

… Is the murderer…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Finally, yet another investigation segment comes to a close, and let me promise you: This trial is gonna be a total shockfest._

 _And the conclusion will be way more satisfying than the conclusion of the last chapter._

 _I promise._

 _Anyways…_

… _I love you._

 _please follow this fanfic and my profile in general._

 _Seriously, I'm getting literally no traffic to this fic._

 _Please._

 _Read this fic._

 _put the word out on Amino or something._

 _I don't care._

 _Read this fic and Benninja2618's fic that goes with it._

 _Please._

 _God made me this way and I'm ashamed to be called his creation!_

 _*It's Filthy Fox, motherfucka! It's Filthy Fox, bitch!*_

 _*Let's get some pussy toniiiight*_


	11. Chapter 2: Trial

_"Daddy would you like some sausage? Daddy would you like some sausages?" -Weapon X Foxfurry_

 **Chapter Two Trial**

 **Murder her? I barely know her!**

 **Students dead: Mariko Saikawa, Samantha Cutler, Daniel Grievky, Martin McKenzie, Liza Song**

 **Students remaining: Manako Kumara, Nathan Sampson, Joey Kelso, Clarissa Arden, Kelly Monroe, Belle Lovegood, Johan Sinclair, Eleanor Miller, Alice Spencer, Vivian Harriet, Franklin Costello, George Trautmore, Hana Jovi, Yuri, Cecilia Vasquez**

We arrived at the courtroom like we did before, but now we were down five students.

I knew there was twenty of us to start with, but now there's only fifteen of us.

It's only been two weeks and we're already down to a fourth of our classmates.

It's like we were in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory tour, only our Gene Wilder is a psychotic teddy bear, our Violet Beauregarde was more of a brute than her incarnation in the remake, and our Mike Teevee was actually a decent person, but also a bit of a doofus.

However, there were some differences this time.

The biggest difference was that the courtroom itself was more elaborately decorated, moreso like a Roman Senate hall, but also with more elaborately-decorated podiums for the students, the large flatscreen monitor on the wall that displayed the evidence on it, and an ancient Roman-inspired throne in the front of the room where Monokuma sat.

However, in addition to crossed-out portraits of Mariko and Sam placed at two of the podiums, there was an additional one of Daniel, but had a pair of hockey sticks forming an 'X' over his face.

And now, in addition to them, portraits of both Martin and Liza were placed at random pedestals, Martin's portrait crossed out with two flaming lava rocks shooting out of a volcano and their streaks, and Liza's crossed out with a pair of palm trees.

Even in her death portrait, Liza was still smiling brightly.

A grim reminder of what could potentially befall us if we're not careful.

Regardless, I took my place at the podium to the right of Sam's, but this time, Nathan took the one to my right.

As the others took their places, I looked to Nathan, and he nodded, giving me a reassuring gaze.

It was then that Monokuma appeared, plopping right onto his 'throne', as UsagiKuma sat at a desk next to it.

The desk had a digital touch screen monitor on it, giving me the impression that she was assigned to be the stenographer of the trial.

"Alright, ya bastards!" Monokuma announced, "As you can see, we renovated the place a bit. It's a little nicer, a little cleaner, and the Roman decor fits in with the Vegas theme here. That, and Caesar's Palace is practically next door to us. Fun fact about this place; this resort was actually built on the very spot where the infamous Riviera Casino Hotel used to be."

"A High-end casino resort built on the spot where a former Mafia-run casino hotel once was…" I said aloud.

"Yup!" Monokuma replied, "After all, what better place to have a Mutual Game of Killing than on the very site of a former Mob Casino!"  
"A bit morbid, but fitting…" Nathan murmured.

"Now then…" Monokuma said, "To streamline things, I added a few changes to the trial process. First and foremost is the addition of a 'trial prep' period, in which everyone takes a moment to look over the evidence they've gathered just in case they missed doing so during investigation. After you're done prepping, simply press the button labeled 'ready' on the touch screen on your podium. The second is the addition of my lovely assistant here as the trial Stenographer."

UsagiKuma nodded.

"I… I'll be here to record a transcript of everything that was said in the trial…" she said, "So, if you can't remember what was said earlier in the trial, simply press the button on your podium's touch screen marked with a monokuma-themed bunny, and I'll send you transcripts of each conversation in the trial."

"See? This bot-brain ain't entirely useless!" Monokuma laughed.

I didn't laugh in response, nor did anyone else laugh.

Upon noticing this, however, Monokuma pressed a button on his throne, making a sign lower from the ceiling next to him that had the word 'Laugh' written in bold, all caps lettering.

He then smacked the front of it, then shouted, "Laugh!"

"... Oh, that was supposed to be a joke?" Nathan mused, smirking, "Couldn't tell with how unfunny and wired it was."

Monokuma glared at Nathan.

"Real cute, Soldier-Boy." he responded.

Monokuma then banged his gavel on the side of his throne.

"Now then!" he announced, "Your Trial Prep begins now. When you're ready, press the Ready button. Just don't keep everyone waitin' too long."

I quickly began looking through the evidence I had, but the bit of evidence that had me the most curious was the picture on Liza's Cellphone that Clarissa mentioned earlier.

I plugged my phone into my podium's touch screen, then was about to plug Liza's phone into it when I remembered that Liza's 'cellphone' was an old flip-phone from the mid-2000's.

"There's an adapter cord in a compartment on the side of the podium surface." Nathan told me, pointing.

I checked, and sure enough, there was an adapter cord with a number of plugs for older phones or other digital electronic devices.

Cycling through the different sockets, I plugged the appropriate socket into Liza's phone, then plugged the other end of the cord into the other USB slot on the touch screen, then turned on the phone itself, opening up the main menu on it.

I selected the camera app on the flip phone, then quickly opened the picture files.

Most of the pictures on Liza's phone were mostly of herself and her family, various locations in both Honolulu and the big island of Hawaii and Seoul, South Korea, and other similar pictures.

I opened up the more recent pictures, and saw one that I believed to be the one Clarissa wanted me to see.

 **The picture showed, from the perspective of someone hiding in the crawlspace floor cabinet, Martin laying on the floor, dead, with the Tanto knife embedded in his left eye, and someone, clad in a pale purple latex suit, standing with their back to the cabinet. The only thing the person taking the picture could see was the back of the murderer's right leg.**

 **A nightstick could be seen close to the cabinet.**

"Hey…" Nathan whispered to me, "You find something?"

I nodded, uploading the picture into my evidence inventory on my touch screen, then shared it with Nathan.

"... So your hunch was right…" He said, "... Well, we'll show this during the trial."

I nodded, my finger hovering over the Ready button.

I took a breath to steady my focus, then pressed the ready button, just as everyone else had pressed the ready button.

"Man, I feel like I'm readying up for a game of Team Deathmatch in Call of Duty: Black Ops II…" I heard Joey complain.

"Quit yer whinin', hon." Kelly told him, blowing a bubble with her gum, "We gots a culprit to expose."

"Hurry and ready up, you bloody wanker." George growled.

"Don't tell me what to do, limey!" Kelly hissed, "Nobody tells me what to do. Ever **.** "

"Let her vent, George." Franklin told George, "Clearly one such as her doesn't realize how much of sophisticated gentlemen you and I are."

"You tried to murder Clarissa by locking her in a closet during the trial." I responded.

"Well…" Franklin began, but simply smirked and said, "... Well, I'm sure we'll get to that in the trial…"

"Alright, everyone's ready." Monokuma said, "Now… Let's get it on!"

 **Trial Start!**

 **All Rise!**

My posture stiffened as I stood up completely straight, looking my other classmates in the eyes.

I took a breath…

… Okay.

"... Let's start with the very basics…" I said confidently.

"Right." Joey interjected, "I think it was Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Wrench!"

Nathan gave him a look.

"... Really?" He asked.

"What?" Joey said, grinning sheepishly, "I couldn't resist."

"I meant, does anyone have an alibi?" I clarified.

"Well, I was practicing my acts for my next performance." Cecilia responded, putting a hand on her hip.

"Ah, so that's why I heard 'The Final Countdown' by Europe blasting from the stereo system in your room." Nathan said, "You gotta learn to close your door, lady. Seriously."

"I was…. S-sleeping." Clarissa stammered vaguely.

"I was actually sleeping, too." Joey said, "I was pretty worn out from staying up the entire night before recording a Civilization V Let's Play that probably won't see the light of day, I'm sure."

"I was watchin' Pulp Fiction on my Blu-Ray player on my laptop." Kelly said.

"I was updating my Madoka Magica fanfic all last night." Belle said.

"Most of us were sleeping, I've heard…" Vivian mused, leaning forward on her podium in a way that accentuated her cleavage, smirking in a sultry way, "I don't suppose that counts for anything, does it not?"

"Well I-" I began, but Nathan interrupted with, "We'll put a pin in that for now. Let's focus on the case at hand."

"Right…" I said.

"Now, let's start with Martin first, since he was killed first in this murder." Nathan said, bringing up a picture of Martin's body on the big screen.

"We know he was killed with a real tanto knife." Nathan went on, "Whether or not it actually belonged to Hana is currently open to debate."  
"Hey!" Hana shouted, "I already told Manako it's not mine!"

"She might believe you, but I have my doubts." Nathan responded.

While I believed that Hana didn't seem like the one to take a life, I realized then that I barely even know Hana, so I had no way of verifying that fact.

I mean, she dresses like a ninja and carries prop weapons around.

Who's to say she isn't also a black belt in six different martial arts and actually owns real weapons?

I had to figure this out for myself…

And the way to do that…

Well…

That's where the Non-Stop Debate comes in.

Cue the music.

 **Discussion -HEAT UP- 2nd Mix (SDR2 OST)**

 **Nonstop Debate!**

Loaded truth bullets: Tanto Knife

"I'm telling you, it's not my knife!" Hana shouted, **"I've never seen it before in my life!"**

"But you recognized the type of knife it was, right?" Nathan responded.

"Yes, but-" Hana began, but then Franklin interrupted with, "The soldier has a point. **Not only did you recognize the knife, but you also never detailed your alibi."**

"She didn't?" Joey asked.

"Pay attention, Gamer Boy!" Cecilia responded with a mocking tone.

"Go home, Magic Girl!" Joey snapped back.

"Did you really just make a reference to the Gamergate Episode of Law and Order SVU?" Belle asked.

"They have Law and Order SVU in Krovakia?" Joey asked, bewildered.

"No, but a friend showed me that episode subtitled in Croatian on a forum." Belle sighed.

"Can we focus for like five minutes?" Nathan interjected.

Belle and Joey went quiet.

"Thank you." Nathan responded.

"I think it's pretty obvious dat th' ninja broad did it…" Kelly said, pointing at Hana, " **I saw her at the store buying a knife like dat!** "

Hana glanced at Kelly, then at the others.

"It's… It's not me, I swear!" Hana shouted.

"You seem defensive…" Nathan mused, "Feeling guilty?"

"N-no!" Hana shouted.

"Then why did you buy that knife?" Nathan said, pointing at the murder weapon.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Cecilia said, " **She bought that night specifically for the murder right before she did it!** "

" **You've got that wrong, mate!"**

 **Counter!**

I look over and saw Alice standing up straight with a fierce look on her face.

… Wait, did that bitch just steal my bit?

"Got something to say, Kangaroo Jacqui?" Cecilia responded.

"Yea." Alice responded, "I can not only prove that Hana didn't buy that knife the night of the murder, but also that she was nowhere near the murder when it occured!"

"Then prove it, Crocodile Dumbass." Cecilia said with a smirk.

"I will." Alice responded, "And you watch your mouth about the Crocodile Hunter! He's a national goddamn treasure to us Aussies!"

"I was referring to Crocodile Dundee, you fucking mongoloid!" Cecilia growled.

"Again, national treasure!" Alice snapped, "He's basically our Rambo!"

"Alice, focus!" Nathan told her, "Remember what we talked about."

Alice looked to Nathan sighed and nodded.

"... Right…" she said.

Alice then brought up a picture of a piece of paper with what appeared to be a transaction log.

"I looked at the transaction log of the self-serve register at the International Goods store, with the permission of Monokuma…" she began, "And there's a distinct transaction on the day right after the the first trial."

I looked at the log on my screen, but became confused when I saw how the dates were logged.

"... These dates are all listed as 'Days 1 through today'." I said.

"That's not the point, sheila!" Alice said, "The point is that that knife was purchased the very day after the first trial by Hana."

"Then how did that knife get in the hands of the murderer?" Franklin questioned.

Alice looked to Nathan.

"... That's what we're here to find out…" he said.

He then looked to me, then nodded, pointing to my screen.

I looked, and saw he sent me more evidence.

 **Truth Bullet recieved: found keycards**

 **Truth Bullet recieved: mysterious pill bottle**

 **Truth Bullet Recieved: Rule 12 in the Student Handbook**

 **Non-stop debate!**

Loaded truth bullets: Found keycards, Rule 12

"For the knife to change hands, there are certain conditions that must be met." Nathan spoke, " **The first, and most obvious is the knife has to be stolen**."

"How can you be certain it was stolen?" Vivian asked, smirking coyly while still leaning on her podium in a sexy way, "Weren't you just accusing Miss Jovi of committing the murder?"

"Well, let's think about this…" Nathan responded, "How would a murderer obtain someone else's knife?"

"Stealing it, obviously." Vivian purred, giving a sultry chuckle, " **I think it would be very easy to do around here, don't you?** "

Truth Bullet Fired: Rule 12 in the Student Handbook

"YOU'VE GOT THAT WRONG!" I shouted

 **Counter!**

"And why's that, little girl?" Vivian cooed, her smirk still on her face.

"Because of this…" I said, opening up the student handbook on my phone and bringing up the rules, "According to this, no student is allowed to break into locked rooms."

"Then how did the murderer get the knife, little girl?" Vivian cooed.

"Stop calling me little!" I responded, "It's creepy! And I'll tell you how…"

I brought out the picture of the two keycards.

"Nathan said that Alice found these dumped in a planter over by the hotel suite hallway." I responded.

Suddenly, I saw both Clarissa and Hana check their pockets.

"H-hey!" Clarissa exclaimed, "my room key is gone!"

"Mine is, too." Hana added.

"But then… I don't remember losing it…" Clarissa said, confused, "Come to think of it… I don't really remember much from last night…"

"Neither do I…" Hana mused.

"Which means that not only did Hana not commit the murder…" I said, a look of realization on my face, "Hana's not the murderer!"  
"Not so fast…" Nathan spoke, "You're forgetting one major detail in all this."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The motive." Nathan spoke, "The Despairemine."

Nathan looked to me a moment, then looked to the others.

"I wanted to wait to bring this up, but now seems like a better time than any." he said, "Basically, four of us were infected with Despairemine. So far, I've only managed to guess the identities of three of them. As for the other one… I've narrowed them down to two people. The first two of the infected I've figured out are Clarissa and Liza."

Everyone exchanged surprised looks.

"There's more…" Nathan went on, "The third person to be infected… Is Manako."

Everyone gasped, as I kept a calm expression, although internally I was really super nervous.

"So then…" Cecilia said, then smirked, "... Manako's the murderer!"

Nathan shook his head.

"She isn't…" he said, then smirked and said, "But I guarantee the true identity of the murderer will become clear by the end of this."

He cleared his throat, then went on.

"For now, let's focus on the most important aspect of this double-murder; The Double Murder."

Nathan brought up the picture of Martin first.

"So far, we know that He died of being stabbed, but do we know what he was even doing at the crime scene to begin with?"

"Maybe he wanted to get his groove on?" Joey suggested.

"I will pay you my entire life savings if you never say that again." Nathan told him.

"I won't make any promises." Joey responded.

"Anyways…" Nathan spoke, "All we know so far is that he was murdered with a knife that belonged to Hana, and that not long after he was killed, Liza was murdered shortly after. So, with that in mind, here's the million dollar question; who killed him and why?"

"But what about Liza?" Belle asked.

"One murder at a time, Your highness." Nathan replied flatly.

"She raises a good point, actually…" Franklin said, "Where does Liza fit into all this?"

It was then that I started thinking about that.

Where did Liza fit into all this?

I needed to dive deep into this…

I needed to really think….

"Manako…"

Nathan looked over at me once more.

"I can think of a reason of how Liza fits into this…" he said, "But I want to see you figure it out for yourself."

"You've been doing that a lot this trial…" I said.

"Because I want to see you to expose the killer." he responded, "I know you can do it. You've done it before, after all. Speaking, thanks for proving me innocent then… I feel like I never thanked you for that."

"You're welcome." I told him, nodding.

"Now, on to brass tacks." Nathan said, "Try and think about the evidence you have now. Think about how it fits in…"

I nodded, then began to think as the others argued about the trial.

I then thought of something after a while.

I looked at the picture Liza took with her phone, then thought about the phone ornament I found in the crawlspace in the dance studio, as well as the urine stain.

"... Guys…" I said to the others, "I think I know why Liza was murdered.

"And why's that, love?" George asked.

"..."

I furrowed my brow, then looked at the others with a determined expression.

"... Because Liza… Was a witness to the murder." I said.

There was a distinct silence in the courtroom as everyone looked surprised.

"And just what, praytell, led you to that conclusion, sweetie?" Vivi purred, still leaning on her podium to show off her cleavage.

"Think about the way the cell phone picture she took was taken…" I said, "As well as how she was killed and what position her body was in… If the culprit just committed a murder and someone saw and even photographed it, as seen in the photo, it would make sense that the murderer would want to silence her… Plus… There's also another fact to this."

I briefly glanced at Clarissa.

"... Clarissa was the one who found Liza's phone…" I said, "... And she was locked in a closet before the trial… I think the culprit must have knocked her out during the investigation and locked her in there in hopes that she would be executed for not attending the trial, and thus the photo Liza took of the murder wouldn't be used, and the culprit would walk away clean."

"So who's the killer then, sweetie?" Vivi mused, "I'm dying to know."

"I'm getting to that…" I said, "But first, let's address some loose ends to this case."

I brought up the picture of the found keycards.

"... Clarissa and Hana's keycards. Obviously the killer stole them from the two of them, but the question is how?"

"Well, obviously the killer knocked them out and took them." Vivi said.

I shook my head.

"Hana is too cautious to allow her guard to be let down like that…" I said, "I think personally the killer was sneakier than that."

I brought up the pill bottles, having fully looked at them earlier.

"These pill bottles are labeled with the medicine name 'Rufilin'..."

I looked to Hana.

"Did you accept any drinks from anyone before the murder?"

"I… Don't recall…" Hana admitted, "I faintly remember the sweet nectar that is cran-apple juice, but… Nothing after that… Just a strange aftertaste.. Then darkness…"

"Holy shit!" Joey explained, "Hana got Roofied by the culprit? That's some fucked-up shit even for this franchise!"

"Which means the culprit, despite how cautious Hana is, managed to out-maneuver her." I said.

"So then how did the culprit steal Clarissa's keycard?" Belle asked.

"Well, that's a good question…" I said, "I'd imagine she'd be tripping out due to the Despairimine."

"Yeah, about that…" Monokuma chimed in suddenly, "I forgot to mention, Despairimine has different effects on certain people. It really depends on the person."

"Well, that at least helps validate my theory." I mused, "thanks, Monokuma… for once."

"Eh. I just wanna see one of you degenerates get axed off." Monokuma shrugged.

"So, what effect does Despairimine have on Clarissa, then?" Joey asked.

"I can clarify that…" Clarissa said, "... When the despairimine takes effect… I fall asleep… And have an intense, fevered sleep paralysis nightmare…"

"And while you were asleep, the killer stole your keycard…" I said, "So, when they were out of commission, the killer used Hana's keycard to steal her knife, then got a latex suit from the latex and BDSM store in the underground mall, then got a nightstick from the Military Surplus store, then went and likely lured Martin into the dance studio to kill him, then killed Liza for witnessing the murder."

"But that still doesn't address the elephant in the room…" Vivi cooed, smirking, "... Who is the killer?"

I paused for a bit.

She had a point.

Even after figuring all that out, I still didn't know who the killer was…

I really needed to think.

There had to be something that could prove it.

Anything!

I looked at the evidence I had again, desperate to find something…

That's when I looked at the cellphone picture, this time looking more closely.

Then, I thought back to before all this...

"... I think I know who the killer is…" I finally said.

"And who might that be?" Vivi asked.

I looked right at Vivi, a scrutinous gaze on my face.

"... The killer… Is you, Vivian Harriet."

Vivi's expression broke for a split second before she regained her coy expression.

"... I don't know what you're talking about." she said with a laugh, "Honestly, Manako, darling, you can do better than that."

"I don't need to." I said, "Because I know why you did it…"

"And why do you think that?" Vivi asked.

"... You were infected by the despairimine." I said, "And when the trigger went out to all of us who were infected, you went into action. You lured and murdered Martin, then went and murdered Liza for seeing you do it."

Vivi's expression darkened uncharacteristically, her gaze narrowing into a glare.

"This funny for a moment, Manako…" she said, "... But now it is getting quite annoying."

"Look at the photo Liza took of the killer…" I said, "I don't think any one of us could fit into a latex suit like you could have."

"Shut up." Vivi snarled.

"Plus," I added, "with your height, you could have easily beat Liza in the way she was beaten to death."

" **SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, YOU STUPID, COY LITTLE CAMERA WHORE!** " Vivi screamed, her expression manic with rage, pointing at me all the while, "You don't know a damn thing you're talking about! All you're doing is proving that you're so self-important that you have to look good for everyone here in order to impress us!"

Nathan looked to me, smirking.

"Now you've got her." he said, "Now finish her off."

I nodded.

"Right…" I said, "Here's what happened…"

 **Truthful Angel's Thesis!**

"When the trigger message went out, Vivi went into action. My guess was that the despairimine was used to brainwash her into premeditating a murder, then enacting it when the time was right. She obtained rufilin from the drug store, then a latex suit and a nightstick, then, on the day of the murder, when the message went out, she drugged Hana, went into her room, stole her knife, then donned her latex suit, lured Martin to the dance studio, then murdered him, despite not expecting him to fight back. However, when Vivi found out Liza just took a picture of her commiting the murder, she knew she had to silence her. So, she grabbed Liza, dragged her out of the crawlspace, and beat her head in with the nightstick, after that, it was a matter of disposing of the evidence. She dumped the latex suit in the trash can, dumped the nightstick in the fryer at the donut shop, dumped the keycards in a planter, but, in her haste, she forgot about the phone, and when Clarissa found Liza's phone, Vivi knocked her out and locked her in a closet, in hopes that Clarissa would be executed for not attending the trial, and thus allowing her to walk away scot-free. That, is what happened…"

I pointed at Vivi.

"Vivian Harriet… You are the murderer." I said.

Vivi seemed to seethe with rage, her expression manic, her hair unstraightening a bit.

Her expression then softened to a more sorrowful one.

"... I didn't know what I had done until after it happened…" she said, removing her egyptian crown and setting it on her podium, "And when it did… I was so frightened… I knew I had to bury this… so I disposed of the evidence as best I could… But then Clarissa came to me, saying she found a picture on Liza's phone… And I got scared again… So… I did what I felt I had to do…"

"And even that wasn't enough…" Nathan said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Well, I'd say it's voting time, kids!" monokuma proclaimed, "open up your voting tab on your touchpads, folks!"

I did so, knowing full well that even though Vivi was the killer, by voting for her that meant she would be executed…

"Annnd, the votes are in!" Monokuma said after everyone voted, "And the lucky winner is…"

A slot machine appeared on the screen, and all three rollers landed on portraits of Vivi, thus playing the same animation as before, but with the text 'Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!' under it.

"Welp, looks like Cleopatra is the killer!" Monokuma laughed, "Let's see what really happened…"

The screen then cut to the security cam footage of the murder.

 **What really happened**

I saw Martin walk into the dance studio, holding what seemed like a small note before pocketing it.

As he did so, I saw Vivi walk in, clad in a purple latex suit and holding a tanto knife and a nightstick, entranced, but with a crazed look on her face.

" _You alright, lass_?" Martin asked her, " _You asked me to be here, so I'm here_."

" _Oh, I'm fine_ …" Vivi said, a wide, manic grin on her face, " _And you know what I want_ …"

Martin noticed the knife.

".. _nothin' good, I assume_." he said, getting into a defensive fighting stance.

Vivi then giggled, then laughed, then swung the knife at Martin, which he first blocked with his left hand, but wasn't able to block the stab on his stomach, followed by the multiple slashes to his stomach as well.

Martin clutched his sliced-up, bleeding stomach, wincing from the pain, before Vivi finished him off, by stabbing him right through his eye, the blade piercing into his brain and killing him.

Vivi stood over him as he fell to the floor and passed, but then the faint sound of a cell phone camera clicking could be heard, as Vivi turned her attention to the crawlspace.

She stormed over to it, throwing it up, then grabbing Liza by her hair and dragging her out, making the cell phone ornament come off her phone.

" _No, stop, please_!" Liza screamed, holding her hands over her protectively as Vivi brought the baton down on her, bruising her arms as she brought down a few times on them, then brought the baton down on her head multiple times before finally killing her.

By the time it was all over, Vivi's expression went to a normal, more shocked and scared one.

"... _Oh… Oh God… What have I done_?" she said, before the footage cut off.

Monokuma cackled at this, as Vivi gained a sorrowful expression.

"... I know what I did was wrong…" she said, "... And I understand what my fate is now… And I accept the consequences…"

"Ooh, acceptant, are we?" Monokuma mused, "Welp, I supposed we oughta 'wrap' this trial up! **Ittttt's PUNISHMENT TIME!"**

Like before, a red button rose up in front of Monokuma's chair, and he smacked it with his gavel, making the same eight-bit animation play on the screen, this time with an eight-bit version of Vivi.

Vivian Harriet has been found guilty!

Commencing punishment!

 **Punishment Time:**

 **The Lost Tomb of Despairfertiti**

 **(For this execution, imagine an Egyptian version of the execution music from the second trial of the first game)**

 **Vivian was grabbed around the neck by a chain, then pulled out the door of the courtroom and down a long set of stone stairs into an underground stone room with Egyptian hieroglyphics all over the walls, as Vivi was dragged onto some kind of stone altar.**

 **Several Monokumas dressed in egyptian clothes gathered around her, then began undressing her before re-dressing her in a plain egyptian dress.**

 **Next, the monokumas stood her up on the altar, at which point a pair of mechanical rods with rolls of linen bandages on them came down from the ceiling, which then began to quickly wrap up and mummify Vivi, leaving only her eyes uncovered.**

 **Vivi was then laid back onto the altar as the rollers went back into the ceiling, the SHSL Egyptoligist squirming feverishly in her bonds and emitting muffled cries for help.**

 **The monokumas then began dressing her with egyptian jewelry and gold, then crowned her with a golden egyptian death mask of her face, locking it over her head with a padlock built into it, as Vivi let out muffled sobs and cries for help.**

 **She was then carried off and laid into a large, golden sarcophagus, which was then closed up, the locked closed with padlocks and chains.**

 **Vivi whimpered in the darkness of the casket for a while, but then suddenly a bunch of spikes swiftly protruded from the insides of the casket, impaling her from all sides.**

 **After that, the casket was stood up in the middle of the tomb, at which point the tomb was then closed off by a bunch of Monokumas building a brick wall to close off the tomb forever.**

As the footage of the execution ended, I knew then, more than ever, that I had to save as many of the others as I could…

If I didn't…

Then…

"Manako…"

Nathan looked to me.

"... could we talk for a moment alone like I asked earlier?"

I was silent, but nodded, leading him back to my room, just as the others began filing out of the courtroom.

However, as Nathan and I were leaving the courtroom, Franklin approached me.

"I think you owe me an apology, Kumara." he said with a smirk.

I looked at him, silent for a bit.

"... I'm sorry…" I responded, "... That you feel that way."

I then left him with Nathan in tow.

When we got to my hotel room, Nathan checked the hallways before closing the door and locking it.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, as I sat down on the couch in the room.

"... Manako…"

Nathan looked right at me.

"... When was the last time you ever saw your friend Junko Enoshima?"

 **Chapter Two End:**

 **Despair Like an Egyptian**

 **Six students dead**

 **Fourteen students remaining**

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 _Welp, this has been a long time coming._

 _Like, it's been nearly several months in the making._

 _And now, you get to see the fruits of my labor, or lack thereof._

 _So yeah, Vivi was the culprit, which I'm sure you all would have guessed if you paid attention to the chapter at all._

 _Leave a review, leave a like, Wubba Lubba Dub Dub.._


End file.
